Cessna 180 N1535C

Summary

On 18 June 2006 at about 13:15 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N1535C was involved in an accident near Payson, Arizona, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 June 2006 at 13:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Payson, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.1656, -111.7217

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N1535C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Queen Creek → Payson

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06FA206

4 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the terrain during a low level flyby maneuver. A factor was glare from the sun and shadows created by the mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was on a cross-country flight to a remote dirt airstrip that he had been to several times before. A friend of the pilot was at the airstrip and saw the accident airplane approach from the south, and then fly over the airstrip about 150 feet above ground level. The friend looked away, but reported that he was aware of the engine sounds, which were not unusual and did not draw his attention. The friend heard a "thud" and the engine sounds stropped. He looked up and saw the airplane cartwheel on the west side of a pinnacle, north of the airstrip. The debris field was about 50 feet below the crest of the hill, and continued along a magnetic bearing of 045 degrees. Calculations indicated that the sun was 11 degrees above the horizon, and the magnetic bearing to the sun was 56 degrees. The pilot was turning into the sun, and the shadow side of the pinnacle just prior to impact. Glare from the sun likely affected his vision, and his ability to discern the terrain's proximity. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airframe or engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.