Primary finding
Probable cause
Airspeed was not maintained. Factors include an inadvertent stall.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
While maneuvering during an aerial application flight, the pilot was turning and stalled the aircraft. The airplane descended and impacted the ground, collapsing the landing gear and causing substantial damage.
Source record
Factual narrative
On May 27, 1994, approximately 1100 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Piper PA-12, N3960M, impacted terrain approximately 10 miles East of Nashua, Montana while conducting aerial application activities. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane, received serious injuries, and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aerial application flight, which departed a private airstrip near Nashua, Montana approximately 15 minutes earlier, was in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed and there was no report of ELT activation. The pilot stated that the aircraft was heavily loaded. He said he was in a turn and didn't have enough airspeed. The aircraft stalled with insufficient altitude to recover. -