Piper PA-18-150 accident near Wauconda, Washington, October 11, 2026

The NTSB's narrative preliminary · quoted from the NTSB record

On October 10, 2026, about 2014 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150, N927JS, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Wauconda, Washington. The flight instructor and student pilot were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilots’ family members, the student pilot had recently purchased the airplane, and had planned to fly the airplane from Willow Airport (PAUO) Willow, Alaska, to Kamiah Municipal Airport (S73), Kamiah, Idaho. According to an itinerary the student pilot had sent to family members, he anticipated it would take 3-4 days to fly from PAUO to S73. Both pilots booked commercial airline flights to Anchorage, Alaska, before departing PAUO on the morning of October 7, 2026. Between October 7 and October 9, the pilots performed several intermediate stops until they reached Prince George Airport (CYXS), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of October 9. At 0739 on the morning of the accident, the student pilot texted a family member, stating they were waiting for fog to lift before they departed. At 0808, he texted again, stating they were departing soon, but would have to divert around localized areas of fog. At 0914, he texted that they were departing CYXS. At about 1944, the student pilot sent a text indicating that they had landed at Dorothy Scott International Airport (0S7), Oroville, Washington, and were about to depart for the last leg of the flight to Kamiah Municipal Airport (S73), Kamiah, Idaho. According to preliminary air traffic control data provided by the FAA, one of the pilots of the accident airplane contacted Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZSE) to report they were about 10 miles south of 0S7 and were requesting flight following. The controller at ZSE provided the pilots with a transponder squawk code and asked about the flight’s destination. The pilots replied they were flying to Idaho County Airport (GIC), Grangeville, Idaho. About three minutes later, ZSE reported they had radar contact with N927JS about 20 miles southeast of 0S7 and asked for the airplane’s altitude. The pilots responded they were at 8,000 ft. About one minute later, ZSE attempted to reach the pilots because they had lost radar contact. The pilots did not respond, and no further radio transmissions were received from the airplane. When ZSE was unable to reestablish radar or radio contact with the airplane, the FAA issued an ALNOT. According to the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office, the airplane was located the following evening on the west face of Mount Annie, about 21 miles northeast of Omak, Washington. The main wreckage came to rest on forested, upsloping terrain at an altitude of about 5,069 ft above mean sea level. Examination of the accident site revealed a wreckage path that was about 225 ft long and generally oriented on a magnetic heading of 089°. The first identified points of contact (FIPC) were the tops of two tall fir trees which had been severed. About 120 feet east of the FIPC, sections of both wings were found about 40 feet above the ground, wrapped around the trunks of two fir trees. Both main landing gear, the inboard ends of both wings, freshly broken branches, and fragments of clear plastic were distributed along the ground near the end of the wreckage path. The main wreckage, which included the cabin, wing struts, engine, propeller, and empennage, came to rest nose down with the engine buried in the soil and the empennage folded down and to the right. The throttle levers were found positioned fully forward, the mixture knob was found in the full rich position, the primer pump was in and secure, the fuel selector was positioned to the right fuel tank, and the carburetor heat knob was set to off. An engine data monitor was removed from the airplane and retained for readout of any stored data. Further examination of the wreckage is pending following recovery.

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.