Cessna A185F N24GS

Summary

On 4 September 2002 at about 12:56 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N24GS was involved in an accident near Howard, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 September 2002 at 12:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Howard, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

38.3944, -105.9367

Aircraft

Cessna A185F

Registration

N24GS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Air Drop

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salida → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN02GA102

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain clearance of the terrain. Contributing factors were the clear air turbulent weather condition, and the high density altitude condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

the pilot was flying to a high altitude lake (elevation 11,300 feet) to aerially plant fish for the State of Colorado. The winds at the lower altitudes were calm. At 11,429 feet, data collected from an onboard GPS recorder, indicated that the airplane performed an abrupt 90 degree turn to the left, and impacted the adjacent ridge. Three other Colorado State pilots, flying the same mission in the area, reported wind shear and moderate turbulence from 11,500 to 12,500 feet. The density altitude was calculated to be 12,350 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.