Cessna 172N N5104D

Summary

On 4 January 2016 at about 00:40 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N5104D was involved in an accident near Wayne, Nebraska, 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

4 January 2016 at 00:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Wayne, Nebraska, United States

Coordinates

42.1678, -96.8461

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N5104D

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia → Sioux City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

Unk

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

CEN16FA073

1 person died.

The noninstrument-rated pilot's improper decision to continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a collision with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The noninstrument-rated pilot planned to conduct a cross-country flight. Before departure on the second leg of the flight, the pilot obtained a weather briefing, which noted areas of instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions along his route of flight, including his destination airport. During the briefing, the pilot indicated that his vehicle and work was at his destination. The briefer and pilot discussed flying visual flight rules (VFR) over the cloud layer and possible alternate destination airports. The briefer suggested maintaining VFR flight and making an intermediary stop to again check the weather. The pilot elected to fly direct to his destination. During the flight, the pilot flew above the cloud layer and received VFR flight-following from ATC. The controller advised him that his preferred destination airport was currently under IFR conditions, but another airport was reporting VFR. The pilot elected to continue to the alternate destination airport. The pilot notified the controller he did not have visual contact with the ground and continued his descent. Shortly thereafter, the controller lost radar and radio communication with the pilot. About the time of the accident, a person in the area reported the weather conditions as, "clouds on the ground," with low ceilings, and freezing fog and added that the visibility had changed from about 6 miles to less than ¼ mile in seconds. The airplane wreckage was located about 8 miles from the airport. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed he had a total of about 111 flight hours. The accident is consistent with controlled flight into terrain in instrument meteorological conditions as the pilot continued the descent without the ground in sight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.