Piper PA-44-180 accident near Rapid City, South Dakota, October 3, 2000
On October 3, 2000 at about 1:33 am local time, a Piper PA-44-180, registered N294ND, was destroyed in an accident near Rapid City, South Dakota (Rapid City Regional Airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
Suicide
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 3, 2000 · about 1:33 am local time
- Place
- Rapid City, South Dakota · Rapid City Regional Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-44-180 · all PA-44-180s on the register
- Registration
- N294ND · no longer on the register · serial 4496029
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane was destroyed during an in-flight collision with the terrain following an intentional pitch-up maneuver, approximately at mid-field to an altitude of 1,000 feet above ground level, and subsequent intentional nose-down maneuver which resulted in the collision with the runway. According to an Investigation Report prepared by the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, the pilot's cause of death was, "...blunt force trauma due to an airplane crash with the manner of death as suicide."
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,203 hours in all; 1,009 as pilot in command; 747 on instruments
- Last flight review: December 13, 1999
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 598.3 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, September 21, 2000; 54.4 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,816 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Textron Lyc. LO-360-A1H6 (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Textron Lyc. O-360-A1H6 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: 3V0 Fairburn SD
- Destination: RAP Rapid City SD
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 32, 8,701 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 020° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 52°F (11°C), dew point 39°F (4°C)
- Altimeter: 29.93 inHg
- Observation at 1:30 am from RAP
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.