Cessna T210N N2WF

Summary

On 6 August 1998 at about 13:50 local time, a Cessna T210N registered N2WF was involved in an accident near Creede, Colorado, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 August 1998 at 13:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Creede, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

37.8494, -106.9190

Aircraft

Cessna T210N

Registration

N2WF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Center → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98FA344

4 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain flying airspeed and the subsequent stall/spin. A contributing factor was high density altitude.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was on a flight to distribute the cremation ashes of the pilot's mother. Witnesses observed the airplane fly around the high altitude valley (elevation 10,400 feet, density altitude 11,864 feet) once and then spin to the ground. One witness observed a 'cloud of something' pass behind the airplane moments before it 'spun to the ground.' Records indicate that the pilot had accumulated a total of 441 hours of flight experience, with approximately 30 hours in the last 12 months. Toxicology tests on the pilot revealed that sertraline (trade name Zoloft, a non-approved drug for flight status) was present in his brain in levels several times higher than what would normally be expected from the maximum recommended dosage. A powder, which was light tan in color and gritty to the touch (similar to cremation ashes), was found throughout the cabin area.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.