Cessna T206H N51192

Summary

On 6 February 2004 at about 18:18 local time, a Cessna T206H registered N51192, operated by McAir Aviation, was involved in an accident near Walcott, Wyoming, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 February 2004 at 18:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Walcott, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

41.6503, -106.5294

Aircraft

Cessna T206H

Registration

N51192

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

McAir Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Broomfield → Jackson Hole

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN04FA043

1 person died.

The pilot not following proper IFR procedures for tracking a VOR radial while on an IFR flight plan in IMC conditions, and not maintaining clearance with terrain during cruise flight. Contributing factors were the mountain, and the cloudy weather condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 339 hour private instrument rated pilot departed on a VFR clearance, but changed to an IFR clearance as weather deteriorated. Approximately 14 minutes before the accident, he reported his position incorrectly to ATC (he reported that he was on the 320 degree radial when he was on the 140 degree radial). In the same time frame, he once reported his altitude as 5,500 feet when radar showed him at 9,500 feet, and once that he was at 10 nm from the VOR when ATC said that he was at 1 nm. Radar data also indicates that the pilot made his turn to the outbound radial 3 nm before he got to the VOR (contrary to IFR published procedures). The surviving passenger in the front right seat said that the weather was becoming cloudy (IMC) with intermittent visible contact with the ground. The pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had 6.6 hours of actual instrument flying. His records indicate that he had had an instrument proficiency flight on December 1, 2003, but the airplane he flew that in was equipped with CDI (course deviation indicator) VOR navigation avionics not like the HSI (horizontal situation indicator) VOR navigation avionics equipment in the accident airplane. It could not be determined how much experience/training the pilot had with HSI VOR navigation avionics. The front right seat surviving passenger said that just before impact with the mountain, the pilot was "busy with the airplane's avionics." The airplane impacted the mountain 9.2 nm south of the pilot's designated Victor-6 airway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.