Artic Aircraft Corp. S-1B2 N73WY accident near Rock River, Wyoming

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering that led to an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor in the accident was the low altitude of the flight that reduced the time available for recovery from an upset.

NTSB analysis

The pilot made consistent statements to various law enforcement, medical response personnel, and the company that he has no memory of the accident sequence. The flight was for the purpose of transporting a State of Wyoming biologist along various watershed features in order to take a census of geese. The biologist said they had been flying about 100 feet agl following a creek over low rolling terrain while he observed and counted the geese. On previous flights, the pilot had flown too fast for the biologist to accurately count the birds of interest and he asked the pilot to fly slower. On this flight, the pilot extended the flaps and was flying slower than on previous flights at a speed he estimated at 50 to 60 miles per hour. They were following the creek and the pilot was in a turn to the right and then he began a turn back to the left. The biologist was looking away when he then heard the pilot call out an expletive. When he looked forward, the airplane was in a right wing and nose down attitude descending toward the ground. The pilot managed to level the airplane out just before ground impact. The biologist said he did not hear a change in the engine sounds during the sequence and had not heard the pilot voice any concerns about the way the airplane was handling.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for LAX08LA103 for the full record.