Piper PA-14 N5104H

Summary

On 27 August 2005 at about 16:05 local time, a Piper PA-14 registered N5104H was involved in an accident near Challis, Idaho, 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

27 August 2005 at 16:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Challis, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

44.6611, -114.1294

Aircraft

Piper PA-14

Registration

N5104H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Challis → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05FA181

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control and the subsequent inadvertent stall/spin to the ground. A contributing factor was the pilot's diverted attention while spotting/locating Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and his passenger were spotting Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep in mountainous terrain for the coming hunting season. The airplane was found by a responding fire fighting team. No impact ground scar was found; postimpact fire consumed the airplane. The airplane's left wing remains were swept forward approximately 60 degrees, and the right wing remains were swept aft approximately 60 degrees. The aft fuselage and empennage were rotated and twisted to the right. No preimpact engine or airframe anomalies, which might have affected the airplane's performance, were identified.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.