Piper PA-31B-310 accident near Vernal, Utah, August 21, 1985
On August 21, 1985 at about 12:51 pm local time, a Piper PA-31B-310, registered N7497L, was destroyed in an accident near Vernal, Utah (Vernal airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 21, 1985 · about 12:51 pm local time
- Place
- Vernal, Utah · Vernal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31B-310 · all PA-31B-310s on the register
- Registration
- N7497L · no longer on the register · serial 317300928
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE PLT CANCELLED HIS IFR PLAN AND BEGAN DESCENT FROM 13000 FT IN PREPARATION FOR LANDING AT VERNAL, UT. THE ACFT IMPACTED GROUND IN WINGS LEVEL ATTITUDE UNDER POWER. PLT WAS SERIOUSLY BURNED BY POST-CRASH GROUND FIRE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF FLIGHT CONTROL FAILURE PRIOR TO IMPACT. IT WAS LEARNED PLT HAD FLOWN SMALL ACFT FROM SALT LAKE CITY TO PRICE, UT, AND TO PIERRE, SD, THE DAY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. PLT RETURNED TO SALT LAKE CITY AT 0200 ON DAY OF ACCIDENT. ACCIDENT FLT DEPARTED SALT LAKE CITY AT 0600. FAA PHYSICIAN OPINED THAT PLT WAS ASLEEP AT IMPACT. ACFT WAS FLYING INTO RISING SUN.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,556 hours in all; 207 in this make and model; 350 in the last 90 days; 153 in the last 30 days; 835 as pilot in command; 662 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,946 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 14, 1985; 11 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming TI0-540 SER (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: SLC Salt Lake City UT at 12:05 pm
- Destination: VEL Vernal UT
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 34, 6,605 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 300° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 8,000 ft
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 12:45 pm from VEL, 8 miles away
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.