Low-Altitude Maneuvering · NTSB WPR19FA246
Beech 33 — St. Ignatius, MT
| Date | August 29, 2019 |
| Location | St. Ignatius, MT |
| Aircraft | Beech 33 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering-low-alt flying Low altitude operation/event |
| Pilot age | 49 |
| Pilot total time | 755 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | 700 hrs |
| Fatalities | 3 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
- Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
- Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Wire-Effect on operation
What happened
The pilot and two passengers departed on a multi-leg cross-country flight. Video from a camera affixed to the airplane’s right wing indicated that, as the airplane approached a ranch near the destination airport, the pilot overflew a set of power distribution lines, then descended to a lower altitude to overfly the ranch. The airplane impacted a second set of power lines, severing the left wing, left aileron, and the upper sections of the rudder and vertical stabilizer, then descended to the ground. Multiple witnesses reported hearing the airplane approaching the ranch, then seeing the airplane impact the power distribution lines. One witness stated that the pilot often overflew the ranch to announce his arrival but that he had never seen him fly that low.
Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the pilot’s decision to fly at low altitude and his failure to maintain clearance from powerlines, which resulted in impact with power lines and, subsequently, terrain.