Piper PA-23-160 accident near Casper, Wyoming, June 26, 1998
On June 26, 1998 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Piper PA-23-160, registered N4132P, was substantially damaged in an accident near Casper, Wyoming. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's improper in-flight planning and decision making by selecting an inadequate landing area for an emergency landing when a suitable landing area was available. Factors were fuel exhaustion, inaccurate preflight planning, and lack of recent experience.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 26, 1998 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- Casper, Wyoming · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-23-160 · all PA-23-160s on the register
- Registration
- N4132P · no longer on the register · serial 1612
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While on a personal cross-country flight, the pilot spent time circumnavigating thunderstorms and experienced a complete loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. He conducted a forced landing in a field which was rough and uneven. There was a road beside the field which was suitable to use as a runway for his emergency landing. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage during the forced landing. The pilot did not have a multiengine rating, was inexperienced in the aircraft, and his last biennial flight review was conducted in a single engine aircraft 17 years prior to the accident.
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: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 400 hours in all; 20 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,000 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 18, 1998; 38 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-B1A (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ATY Watertown SD at 5:00 pm
- Destination: CPR
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 250° at 24 knots, gusting 36
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 10,000 ft
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:55 pm from CPR, 18 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 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.