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NTSB Investigating Fatal Piper PA-28R-200 Accident Near Alta, Utah

One person was killed and one seriously injured in an August 31 accident; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 11:11 a.m. ET
One person was killed and one seriously injured when a was involved in an accident near Alta, Utah, at about 11:20 p.m. local time on August 31, 2025, according to the National Transportation Safety Board accident record. The investigation is open and this account is developing. The accident record lists people on board, one fatality and one serious injury, and states that the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The flight is classified in the record as a Part 91 general aviation flight. The NTSB is investigating. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records identify the aircraft as a , registration , a single-engine piston landplane with a Lycoming IO-360 series engine, serial number 28R-7535259, registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as the Patuxent River Navy Flying Club; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. Published material about the club — a Naval District Washington release, a DVIDS item and the Southern Maryland Chronicle — describes it as a Navy-affiliated recreational flying and flight training organization based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, with membership open to military personnel, government employees, DoD contractors and their families. That is background on the owner of record and says nothing about this accident. NTSB records list earlier cases involving the same owner of record: a Piper PA-28, N432FL, at California, Maryland, on December 11, 2015 (GAA16CA077), and a Cessna 152, N4922P, at Easton, Maryland, on August 23, 2013 (ERA13LA379). Those records say nothing about the cause of this accident. The NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 54 other cases involving the , of which 13 involved a fatality; that is a count of records, not a safety rate, and it bears on nothing in this case. Weather observations recorded at Heber Valley Airport (KHCR), 13. miles away and 25 minutes from the reported time, showed calm wind, visibility of 10 statute miles, clear skies and a temperature of 61°F. Those are instrument readings, not a statement by any authority about what happened. Geographic reference data places Alta in Salt Lake County, Utah, at a settlement elevation of 8,691 feet; the elevation of the accident site itself is not given in the record. The NTSB investigation remains open.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N1147X
Type
Piper PA-28R-200 — single-engine piston landplane
Engines
LYCOMING I0360 SER
Registered owner
Patuxent River Navy Flying ClubThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
8,691 ft
Nearest aerodrome
12 miles WNW of Timpanogos Canal Airport (US-4598)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 15:11current

    Minor edits for attribution clarity and a closing line on the open NTSB investigation; no new facts.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 21:11

    First published.

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