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DEN85FA131

1985-05-09 · LEWISTOWN, Montana, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LWT

Current FAA registration · N84857

Make / Model
CONSOLIDATED VULTEE PBY-5A
Year of manufacture
1943 · 42 years old at event
Engine
AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
19820413
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ABA0B8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

DURING TAXI TO TAKEOFF THE BRAKES FAILED. THE PLT ATTEMPTED TO GROUNDLOOP THE ACFT. THE ACFT ROLLED DOWN HILL AND COLLIDED WITH A GULLY. THE PLT WAS FATALLY INJURED. DURING PREFLIGHT THE CO-PLT INADVERTENTLY ADDED HYDRAULIC FLUID IN THE ALCOHOL TANK. THE HYDRAULIC PUMP CAVITATED. THE PLT FAILED TO USE THE HYDRAULIC EMERGENCY HAND PUMP OR THE A.C. ELECTRIC PUMP. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_DEN85FA131.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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