Cessna 172K N84621

Summary

On 26 September 1997 at about 00:35 local time, a Cessna 172K registered N84621 was involved in an accident near Sandy Valley, Nevada, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 September 1997 at 00:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Sandy Valley, Nevada, United States

Coordinates

35.7503, -115.5308

Aircraft

Cessna 172K

Registration

N84621

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Boulder City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97FA331

1 person died.

the pilot's intentional VFR flight into adverse weather conditions, and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude or clearance from mountainous/hilly terrain. Related factors were: the high/mountainous/hilly terrain, and the adverse weather condition (low ceiling).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot told a witness he had been 'skud-running' and made an earlier stop due to bad weather. He said he was instrument rated, but was not current. At the airport, the weather was estimated to be basic VFR. To the south, however, the sky was obscured with no lateral visibility. The pilot said he was going to fly to an airport north of his position. He did not get a weather briefing before departure. Subsequently, he reported an airport in sight and transmitted that he was descending on approach. The aircraft was found over a week later, about 9 miles southeast of the departure airport. The aircraft was found on the south side of an east-west ridge at about 3,000 feet msl. The off-route obstruction clearance altitude for that area was 8,800 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.