Cessna T182T N24289

Summary

On 7 March 2023 at about 02:15 local time, a Cessna T182T registered N24289 was involved in an accident near Queets, Washington, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 March 2023 at 02:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Queets, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.5334, -124.1106

Aircraft

Cessna T182T

Registration

N24289

Category

Airplane

Year built

2006

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tacoma → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

WPR23FA143

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and airplane were reported missing by family members. A multi-agency search was conducted; radar data believed to represent the missing airplane showed a westerly track to 10 miles east of Queets, Washington. The airplane wreckage was found 5 weeks later in an area of dense trees one mile north of the last radar target. Shortly after departure, evidence suggests the pilot turned off the airplane’s transponder. The airplane likely encountered instrument meteorological conditions and icing along the route of flight. Although evidence suggests the pilot had been drinking alcohol shortly before the accident, the pattern of the pilot's ethanol results indicates that some or all the detected ethanol likely was from sources other than alcohol consumption. This conclusion is consistent with the severity of the pilot’s injuries, the delayed recovery of his remains, and the presence of other volatiles (n-butanol, isopropanol, and acetone) in some of the tested specimens. However, the results do not exclude the possibility that the pilot may have consumed ethanol and may have been impaired by ethanol effects at the time of the crash. Thus, whether ethanol effects contributed to the crash could not be determined. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.