Piper J-3 N98833

Summary

On 7 September 1997 at about 23:15 local time, a Piper J-3 registered N98833 was involved in an accident near Jordan, Montana, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 September 1997 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Jordan, Montana, United States

Coordinates

47.3804, -106.8102

Aircraft

Piper J-3

Registration

N98833

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97LA204

2 people died.

The pilot's inadequate remedial action during an inadvertent stall/spin entry. Factors include buzzing, a rapid pull-up, and failure to maintain proper airspeed (Vs).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The person who was flying the aircraft had been giving rides to some of the individuals who had gathered at a ranch for a horse sale. When he gave these rides, he took off from a field near where the sale was taking place, and then would make a number of low passes which concluded with steep pull-ups. On the accident flight, he made a low pass, pulled up steeply, and appeared to be initiating a turn near the top of his pull-up. As the aircraft slowed at the top of the pull-up, it entered a spin from which the 'pilot' did not recover. Witnesses reported that the individual flying the aircraft had told a number of persons present at the sale that he did not possess an FAA pilot's certificate. A search of FAA records confirmed that he was not a certificated pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.