Flight Details
At 0120, a flight instructor, a student, and a passenger departed Stillwater Municipal Airport for a night instructional cross-country flight. The aircraft climbed to 3,500 feet MSL and flew east, paralleling the Cimarron Turnpike. The turnpike, at an elevation of 980 feet, is a four-lane white cement highway with a 10-foot-wide grass strip separating eastbound and westbound traffic. At that time of night, eastbound traffic was spaced 5 to 8 miles apart. The moon was approximately 85% full.
Accident Sequence
At 0138:20, radar data showed the airplane flying a descending box pattern over the turnpike. The descent culminated with the aircraft impacting 7/16-inch stainless steel static wires suspended 64 feet above the turnpike. The airplane then struck the eastbound lanes and slid eastward, coming to rest 3 feet north of the center line and exactly parallel to it for a distance of 162 feet.
Witness Observations
Moments before impact, witnesses reported noticing a bright, single light practically directly behind them. Because no other vehicles arrived at the accident scene for approximately five minutes, they believed the bright light they saw was that of the airplane.