Cessna 182P N888SR

Summary

On 23 February 2006 at about 04:50 local time, a Cessna 182P registered N888SR, operated by Wings of Wenatchee Inc, was involved in an accident near Goldendale, Washington, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 February 2006 at 04:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Goldendale, Washington, United States

Coordinates

45.9531, -120.9494

Aircraft

Cessna 182P

Registration

N888SR

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Wings of Wenatchee Inc

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wenatchee → Portland

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA06FA055

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance during descent. Factors contributing to the accident were the high mountains, mountain obscuration, the dark night condition, and the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision making.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to departing on the first leg of the night cross-country cargo flight, the pilot obtained a weather briefing which included an AIRMET that indicated mountains could be obscured by clouds, and that precipitation, mist and fog might be encountered over the route of flight. The pilot filed a VFR flight plan with a cruise altitude of 6,500 feet, departing at 1950 Pacific standard time. As the flight progressed, radar data indicated the following: at 2036:09 the airplane was 20 nm north of the accident site proceeding south at an altitude of 6,400 feet; at 2046:17 the airplane was 1.16 nm from the accident site and continued to proceed south at an altitude of 6,300 feet; from 2046:17 to 2046:53, when the last encoded altitude was received, the airplane had descended from 6,300 feet to 5,500 feet on a southerly heading; radar contact was lost at 2048. The airplane impacted trees in mountainous terrain at an elevation of 5,099 feet. Search and rescue personnel who reached the accident site 5 hours after the accident, reported hard blowing snow, winds from the west at 30 miles per hours, and from 3 to 4 feet of fresh snow covering the area. One search and rescue volunteer, who resides 12 miles south of the accident site, at an elevation of 1,678 feet, revealed that between 2100 and 2200 on the evening of the accident, there was a light rain falling and that the temperature was 34 degrees F. A post-accident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any mechanical anomalies which would have prevented normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.