Billings – Miles City – Wolf Point

On January 5, 1978 at 02:05 AM, Billings – Miles City – Wolf Point experienced a crash involving Rockwell Aero Commander 500, operated by Combs FreightAir, with the event recorded near Miles City Montana.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a plain, valley crash site.

1 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. After his departure from Miles City Airport, while climbing by night over an unlighted area, the pilot was cleared to climb to 6,000 feet. At a relative low altitude and high speed, the left wing outboard section failed and detached. Out of control, the airplane dove into the ground and crashed in a field. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration N6308U, MSN 500-1309-121, year of manufacture 1963.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 46.4070°, -105.8478°.