Cessna 182 N21254

Summary

On 17 January 2025 at about 10:35 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N21254 was involved in an accident near Smyrna, Tennessee, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 January 2025 at 10:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Smyrna, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Smyrna (MQY)

Coordinates

36.0154, -86.5260

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N21254

Category

Airplane

Year built

1972

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Knoxville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA25LA104

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain an appropriate approach path, resulting in the airplane contacting a tree during a landing approach at night.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While flying a visual approach to the runway at night, and in a gusting crosswind, the pilot turned from the base leg of the traffic pattern to final approach and corrected for the crosswind. The pilot transitioned from a crabbing crosswind correction to a slipping crosswind correction and noticed that he was below the glideslope for the runway as indicated by the precision approach pathway indicator lights. The pilot increased engine power to correct, but the airplane impacted the top of a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. He subsequently landed the airplane uneventfully. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.