Piper PA-28-181 accident near Butte, Montana, December 17, 2005
On December 17, 2005, a Piper PA-28-181, registered N4350F, was destroyed in an accident near Butte, Montana (Bert Mooney airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the terrain during low-level maneuvering at night. Factors included the pilot’s improper in-flight decision to continue into an area that was forecasted to possibly contain snow, fog, and low ceilings. Additional factors included his failure to obtain a weather update while en route, a dark night, mountainous terrain, trees, snow showers, fog, and the pilot’s inadvertent flight into instrument flight rules conditions while on a visual flight rules flight.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 17, 2005
- Place
- Butte, Montana · Bert Mooney · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-181 · all PA-28-181s on the register
- Registration
- N4350F · no longer on the register · serial 7790020
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
When the pilot, who was not instrument rated, departed his point of origin, the area forecast for his destination was indicating the possibility of marginal VFR and locally IFR conditions due to fog, snow showers, and low clouds. He did not make use of FAA weather updating services while en route, and when he arrived in the area near his destination, it was already dark, and the weather at the airport had deteriorated to one-half mile visibility, freezing fog, moderate snow, and a ceiling of 800 feet broken. As he maneuvered toward the airport through mountainous/hilly terrain, he inadvertently entered IFR conditions, and then reversed course in order to return to VFR conditions. During his attempt to maneuver through the area of a mountain pass, the aircraft collided with trees on a steep snow-covered slope.
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: 258 hours in all; 258 in this make and model; 7 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 211 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: November 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,950 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 1, 2005
- Maximum gross weight: 2,550 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-360-A4M (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: KMLS Miles City MT at 9:00 pm
- Destination: KBTM Butte MT
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 090° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 0.5 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 800 ft
- Temperature: 14°F (-10°C), dew point 10°F (-12°C)
- Altimeter: 29.87 inHg
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.