Cessna 182 N21409

Summary

On 13 March 1982 at about 04:30 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N21409, operated by James Wheeler, was involved in an accident near Blythe, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

13 March 1982 at 04:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Blythe, California, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N21409

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James Wheeler

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Polamar → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX82FUG07

1 person had minor injuries.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE ENGINE LOST POWER AT NIGHT WHILE THE AIRCRAFT WAS EN ROUTE AT ABOUT 18,000 FT MSL. THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE. WHILE TRYING TO START THE ENGINE, HE NOTED THAT THE CARBURETOR HEAT WOULD NOT GO FULL ON OR FULL OFF. THE PILOT ASKED FOR VECTORS TO THE NEAREST AIRPORT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO SEE IT FROM ABOUT 7.5 MILES. HE WAS UNAWARE THAT HE HAD TO KEY THE MICROPHONE BUTTON FIVE TIMES ON 122.8 MHZ TO TURN ON THE RUNWAY LIGHTS. HE WAS ABLE TO SEE A HIGHWAY AND CAR LIGHTS FROM ABOUT 17,000 FT MSL. WHILE LANDING ON THE HIGHWAY IN HEAVY RAIN, THE LEFT WING AND ENGINE STRUCK TREES BESIDE THE ROADWAY. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED NO PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.