Cessna 182K N2764Q

Summary

On 8 August 2024 at about 19:01 local time, a Cessna 182K registered N2764Q was involved in an accident near Augusta, Montana, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 August 2024 at 19:01

Classification

Accident

Location

Augusta, Montana, United States

Coordinates

47.3697, -112.7661

Aircraft

Cessna 182K

Registration

N2764Q

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pullman → Great Falls

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24FA270

3 people died.

The non-instrument-rated pilot’s decision to continue a visual flight rules flight into a rugged mountain area in deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in impact with terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot and two passengers departed on a cross-country flight toward mountainous terrain. During the first portion of the flight, visual meteorological conditions prevailed; however, the overcast cloud layer became lower as the airplane continued into rising terrain. Recorded flight data revealed that the pilot maneuvered the airplane through and between several mountain canyons and valleys as he continued in the general direction of the intended destination. The airplane crossed several ridges with as little as about 250 ft of terrain clearance and made a series of turns each time it approached high terrain immediately ahead. The airplane continued through rising terrain, then climbed through a narrow upslope mountain pass at the edge of the range. As the airplane approached the pass, it began a substantially steeper climb as the airspeed slowed, followed by a rapid descent and impact with the canyon wall. Weather forecast and observation data indicated that the region where the flight was conducted was broadly covered by an overcast layer with localized areas of low clouds, fog and mist. Weather information that would have been available to the pilot before the flight forecast marginal to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with clouds obscuring the mountains along the route of flight. Witnesses who were hiking in the area around the time of the accident and who were first to arrive on the scene confirmed that the pass near the accident site was windy and frequently enveloped in fog. It is likely that as the airplane flew into narrow valleys with increasing elevation, cloud ceilings were lower than the surrounding mountains, and the distance between the surface and the overcast layer became more constrained as the airplane continued along the route. Given the low overcast and mountain obscuration, limited options to navigate or reverse course in narrow, constrained terrain, and known conditions in the upsloping mountain pass where the accident occurred, it is likely that the airplane entered an area of clouds and subsequently impacted terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.