Amateur-built AA-5 accident near Newcastle, Wyoming, August 17, 1999
On August 17, 1999 at about 11:27 pm local time, a amateur-built AA-5, registered N1370R, was destroyed in an accident near Newcastle, Wyoming. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 4 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout and inadequate altitude/clearance from the transmission wires.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 17, 1999 · about 11:27 pm local time
- Place
- Newcastle, Wyoming · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 4 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built AA-5
- Registration
- N1370R · registry record · serial AA5-0770
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot was giving sightseeing rides to relatives at a family reunion. On his fifth flight, with three passengers, the airplane impacted three electrical transmission wires which were 214 feet above ground level, and located 5 nautical miles north of the airfield. The airplane came to rest 924 feet south of the transmission wires. Postimpact fire consumed the airplane.
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: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 225 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,345 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 10, 1999; 78 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,200 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-E2G (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: ECS at 11:10 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 350° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:55 pm from GCC, 60 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 3 |
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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DEN99FA148.