Cessna R182 N182GT

Summary

On 19 June 2009 at about 02:38 local time, a Cessna R182 registered N182GT was involved in an accident near Dougherty, Texas, 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

19 June 2009 at 02:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Dougherty, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.9714, -101.0833

Aircraft

Cessna R182

Registration

N182GT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → Plainview

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN09FA369

2 people died.

The pilot’s improper decision to continue flight into known adverse weather conditions resulting in his inability to maintain aircraft control after penetrating the thunderstorm gust front. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of preflight planning, failure to obtain a weather briefing, and the severe to extreme turbulence, blowing dust which produced brownout conditions associated with thunderstorm activity.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Radar data provided for the last portion of the accident flight depicted the airplane changing heading and altitude on several occasions. The airplane impacted an open field in a nose low attitude and was fragmented on impact. An examination of the airframe, engine, and airplane systems revealed no pre-impact anomalies. Weather information for the time of the accident depicted an area of light precipitation, consistent with the outflow boundary from a thunderstorm in the immediate vicinity of the accident location, at the time of the accident. Convective SIGMETS, METAR observations, and witness reports illustrated thunderstorm activity, brownout conditions, a dust storm, and the possibility of severe to extreme turbulence at the time of the accident. There was no record that the pilot had obtained a formal weather briefing from a recorded source. The pilot’s flight logbook was located within the wreckage. A review of the logbook indicated that the pilot had logged no less than 412 hours; 45.5 hours in the make and model of the accident airplane, 17.7 hours at night, and 4.6 hours in simulated instrument meteorological conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.