Arctic S-1B2 N71AT

Summary

On 16 August 2002 at about 14:30 local time, a Arctic S-1B2 registered N71AT, operated by Wyoming Game and Fish Department, was involved in an accident near Meeteetse, Wyoming, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 August 2002 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Meeteetse, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

44.0889, -108.7464

Aircraft

Arctic S-1B2

Registration

N71AT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wyoming Game and Fish Department

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Worland → Worland

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN02GA097

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. A contributing factor was the intentional low pass/slow flight maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the public use flight was to count antelope. The pilot made position reports every 20 minutes. When the pilot failed to report at the scheduled time, an aerial search was initiated. With the aid of a weak ELT signal, the wreckage was located. There were no witnesses and the surviving passenger did not recall any details of the accident. The airplane struck the ground in a near vertical attitude. The flap handle was in the first notch, or 10 degrees flaps down, position. According to the operator, the pilot required "more training" than other newly hired pilots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.