Overview
On October 24, 2025, at 2115 mountain daylight time, a Cirrus SR22T, registration N740TS, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Lincoln, Montana. The pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight.
Flight Details
The pilot’s brother, who was also a partial owner of the airplane, stated they spoke a few hours before departure. The pilot decided to fly to Lincoln Airport (S69), despite never having landed there before, to join a hunting trip. They briefed the flight and reviewed the weather together. The brother monitored the airplane via live flight tracking and arrived at the airport about 2120, observing runway lights illuminated but no airplane present.
The airplane departed from Spokane, Washington about 2010 and proceeded on a direct southeast route to Lincoln at an altitude of 9,700 ft mean sea level (msl). About an hour later, 17 nautical miles from S69, the autopilot mode was changed to selected altitude mode (ALTS) with a preset altitude of 6,000 ft.
Accident Sequence
As the airplane descended into the valley at 2112:39, about 1,150 ft above ground level (agl), the pilot lowered flaps to 50%. Full flaps (100%) were selected 17 seconds later. The airplane aligned with Highway 200, descending to 150 ft agl with an indicated airspeed between 77 and 87 knots. It then began a gradual climb and flaps were retracted to 50%, remaining until impact.
The airplane passed over the town, momentarily crossed south of the highway, and then maneuvered toward the airport. At 2114:43, it was north of the runway near midfield at about 1,030 ft agl. It made a left turn near the airport beacon, descending to 575 ft agl. At 2114:51, the Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) activated. The airplane began climbing 5 seconds later, and full power was added at about 2115:00. A steep left bank was initiated; the stall warning activated at 2115:06 as airspeed slowed to 50 knots. Immediately after, the autopilot and yaw damper disconnected. A second stall warning activated, and the left bank steepened while the airplane descended rapidly. During the 7-second descent, another TAWS alert occurred while the engine remained at full power.
Wreckage and Site
The accident site was on flat terrain in a sparsely populated neighborhood north of the airport, at an elevation of about 4,600 ft and 3,355 ft from the runway surface. The airplane came to rest with the nose oriented north, opposite the debris field direction. Wreckage was scattered over 275 ft, with most distant debris (windscreen fragments) south of the main wreckage. The main wreckage sustained significant thermal damage consistent with post-impact fire.
At the beginning of the debris field, mature aspen trees were severed at various heights, with cuts progressively lower toward the main wreckage. Paint chips were embedded in fresh tree cuts. The left-wing spar was separated about six feet inboard from the wingtip; composite material similar to the spar was found embedded in a downed tree top. The left main landing gear was separated from its gearbox, consistent with tree impact.
The airport had pilot-activated medium intensity runway lights (MIRL) and a 2-light precision approach path indicator (PAPI) on the left side of runway 04. Lights remained illuminated for 15 minutes after activation. FAA aviation weather camera imagery showed runway lights illuminated between 2109-2111. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the moon was waxing crescent (11.5% illuminated), sunset was at 1827, civil twilight at 1857, moon set at 1935. At accident time, the moon was about 14.69° below the horizon on an azimuth of 244°.
The pilot’s spouse stated he frequently took last-minute trips and was very comfortable flying the airplane, often flying at night but usually to his home airport. A review of historic ADS-B data revealed no recent flights after civil twilight.