Cessna 182G N2440R

Summary

On 16 November 2015 at about 20:00 local time, a Cessna 182G registered N2440R was involved in an accident near Sandia Park, New Mexico, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 November 2015 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sandia Park, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

35.0000, -106.0000

Aircraft

Cessna 182G

Registration

N2440R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wichita Falls → Albuquerque

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16FA042

3 people died.

The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument rated pilot did not receive a weather briefing nor file a flight plan prior to departing on a VFR cross-country flight. Radar data showed that the airplane proceeded west on course after departure. As the airplane neared a north/south-oriented mountain range, it deviated from the direct course to the destination, turning to the southwest and then to the north. Overlaying the airplane's flight path on a weather radar image showed that the airplane began the deviation as it approached an area of precipitation. Additionally, photographs taken by a passenger during the flight indicated that the airplane was flying above a solid overcast. As the airplane flew north parallel to the eastern slope of the mountain range, the pilot contacted the destination airport's air traffic control tower and reported that he was descending out of 13,000 ft, that he was between cloud layers, and that he wanted to perform an instrument landing system approach to the airport . He reported being 5 miles east of the airport; however, radar data indicated that the airplane was about 25 miles east and on the other side of the mountain range from the destination airport. The pilot then said the situation was "pretty hairy . . . I can see the ground . . . I'm just trying to maintain visibility right now," and, a few minutes later, "we are really having a tough time trying to get out of this [*mess]." Radio contact was lost shortly thereafter. Radar data indicated an erratic flight path and a varying groundspeed during the last 4 minutes of the flight. Radar contact was lost, and the airplane impacted heavily wooded mountainous terrain in a near vertical attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. In addition to the precipitation indicated by the weather radar imagery, satellite imagery showed cloud cover over the accident area with tops about 28,000 ft. The weather imagery, the pilot's statements, the erratic flight path, and the airplane's impact attitude are consistent with the airplane entering instrument meteorological conditions and the pilot developing spatial disorientation and losing control. Toxicological testing revealed 0.326 (ug.mL, ug/g) sertraline, a prescription antidepressant, in the pilot's heart blood and desmethylsertraline, a metabolite of sertraline, in the pilot's liver and heart blood. The pilot's medical records indicated that he was being treated for depression with sertraline, and, several months before the accident, the pilot's health care provider noted that the pilot's depression was well controlled.. Therefore, it is unlikely that effects from the pilot's depression or use of sertraline contributed to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.