Cessna T337G N45E

Summary

On 28 October 2001 at about 02:06 local time, a Cessna T337G registered N45E was involved in an accident near Palmer Lake, Colorado, 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

28 October 2001 at 02:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Palmer Lake, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

39.1744, -104.9706

Aircraft

Cessna T337G

Registration

N45E

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Centennial Arpt → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DEN02FA004

1 person died.

the pilot intentionally restricting his external vision (turning his cabin lights up bright to practice night instrument approaches), and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance of the mountain. A contributing factor was the Air Traffic Controller’s failure to provide appropriate safety alerts for rising terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed Centennial Airport (elevation 5,883 feet) VFR to practice multiple instrument approaches at night. He told his wife that he would turn the cockpit lights up bright to facilitate instrument training. After two ILS approaches, he requested, from ATC, two turns in the holding pattern before flying additional approaches. The ATC controller cleared him for the practice holding, and assigned him to fly at 9,000 feet. During the inbound track (347 degrees), radar data indicated that the airplane descended from its assigned altitude to 7,600 feet with no ATC intervention. Next, the pilot requested to depart the initial approach fix to the southeast for approximately 15 nm at 8,500 feet. The ATC controller cleared the request, but didn't terminate radar services. The pilot flew south for approximately 8nm, then turned to 210 degrees. He impacted the mountain approximately 5 minutes later.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.