ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 13872
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| Date: | Tuesday 27 March 1979 |
| Time: | 16:04 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II |
| Owner/operator: | Wyoming Central |
| Registration: | N2257M |
| MSN: | 34-7870074 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | West of Lander, Wyoming (at approx. co ordinates 42.7167 N, 109.1 W) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Casper–Natrona County International Airport, Casper, Wyoming (CPR/KCPR |
| Afton Municipal Airport, Afton, Wyoming (AFO/KAFO) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (destroyed) March 27 1979 due to a CFIT (Controller Flight Into Terrain); all four person on board (pilot and three passengers) were killed. According to the following summary from the official NTSB report into the accident: "flying accident: mountains obscured by clouds. Hit mountain at 12,800 feet amsl". Aircraft came down on a mountainside at approximate co ordinates 42.71667 N, -109.1 W, east of Wind River Peak, in the Popo Agie Wilderness of Shoshone National Forest, west of Lander, Wyoming.
Also, according to the NTSB report:
"PROBABLE CAUSE(S); PILOT IN COMMAND - CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS; PILOT IN COMMAND - INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING
FACTOR(S)
WEATHER - SNOW; TURBULENCE, ASSOCIATED W/CLOUDS AND/OR THUNDERSTORMS, DOWNDRAFT,UPDRAFTS"
The are some reports that the aircraft MAY have broken up in flight due to thunderstorms and severe turbulence; when the wreckage was found, the wings were separated from the fuselage...although it is not clear if this happened in flight, or due to post impact damage.
Aircraft initially posted as missing until wreckage recovered. Recovery date of wreckage was on March 29 1979 - two days after the crash. However, the registration N2257M was not cancelled by the FAA unti October 16, 2012 - 33 years later
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: DEN79FA033 at https://ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=37917&key=0
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=2257M
3. http://planecrashmap.com/plane/wy/N2257M/
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_River_Peak
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2008 12:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 01-Dec-2016 21:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Feb-2019 21:38 | BEAVERSPOTTER | Updated [Cn] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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