Cessna 182K N2650R

Summary

On 20 November 2009 at about 20:46 local time, a Cessna 182K registered N2650R, operated by Gartner Harold H III, was involved in an accident near Susanville, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 November 2009 at 20:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Susanville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Susanville Municipal Airport (KSVE)

Coordinates

40.3878, -120.5494

Aircraft

Cessna 182K

Registration

N2650R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Gartner Harold H III

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Susanville → Lodi

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA059

1 person died.

The pilot's decision to takeoff into weather conditions conducive to ice accumulation, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin while maneuvering in the initial climb. Contributing to the accident was the likely accumulation of snow and ice on the airborne airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument-rated pilot of the single-engine airplane received his instrument flight rules clearance for a southeast departure and took off with 1/2-mile visibility and light snow falling. About the time the airplane departed witnesses heard an airplane circling overhead, making a number of passes 2 miles to the northeast of the airport, and then heard the airplane impact the ground and saw a fireball. The circling flight path is consistent with the pilot's known departure habits of circling over the airport to gain sufficient altitude to clear the mountainous terrain surrounding the airport. The witnesses did not see the airplane before it impacted the ground because of the snow and low visibility at the time. The pilot was instructed in his clearance to contact the air traffic control (ATC) center after departure, but ATC center personnel reported that they never received a check-in radio call from the pilot. The weather at the airport about the time of the accident included winds from 140 degrees at 6 knots gusting to 15 knots, 1/2-mile visibility with a 200-foot overcast ceiling, and an outside air temperature of 1 degree Celsius. The wreckage of the entire airplane was contained in the vicinity of the initial ground impact and no ground scars or debris were found leading up to the wreckage. Examination of the airplane's wings showed leading edge crushing along the entire length of both wings, and the wing skin was crushed accordion-style longitudinally, all consistent with a stall and vertical descent to impact. Accumulation of ice on the airplane in flight could have inhibited radio communications and created unusual airplane stall characteristics conducive to a stall/spin.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.