Pilot Was Fatally Injured, Passenger Sustained Serious Injuries

The teenage occupants of a Piper J3C Cub were waving at people on the ground before the aircraft went down near Chetek, WI in May, according to the NTSB's preliminary report on the accident.

According to the report, the  Piper J3C 65 airplane, N35132, went down into a river 3.5 miles southwest of Chetek, Wisconsin. The private pilot was fatally injured and the passenger was seriously injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no FAA flight plan had been filed for the flight. The local flight departed a private airstrip near Chetek, Wisconsin, about 1800.

According to several witnesses in the area, the airplane flew over the witnesses who were fishing on a pond near the river. One witness remarked that the door of the airplane was open and the two occupants were waving at them. The airplane continued to the north and then started a turn to the right. Both witnesses stated that they heard a "pop" noise from the engine which they characterized as a backfire. One witness stated that the engine was at a lower rpm as the airplane flew over him. After the "pop" the airplane descended below the tree line and the witnesses heard the crash.

The Duluth News-Tribune identified the occupants of the airplane as pilot Owen Knutson, 17, a Chetek-Weyerhaeuser High School junior, who was fatally injured in the accident. His passenger, Hunter Gillett, 18, a senior at Cameron High School, sustained serious injuries.

Both teens were pulled from the airplane wreckage, which was located in the Red Cedar River. The wreckage included both wings, the empennage, fuselage, and the engine and propeller assembly.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Preliminary Report