WPR10FA018

The pilot’s decision to continue flight into an area of low ceilings and low visibility and his failure to maintain clearance from terrain.

The pilot was returning to his departure airport. He contacted family members before his departure and indicated that his arrival would be delayed due to poor weather conditions along the route of flight. Review of the global positioning data obtained from a handheld global-positioning-system unit showed that the first portion of the pilot's route of flight was direct between his departure and destination, in a general west-northwesterly direction. Near the end of the flight the flight track showed a 360-degree turn to the right, followed by a path to the south, then 180-degrees to the north, followed by a turn to the south. The last data points showed a westerly track. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical anomalies. While the weather at the accident site at the time of the accident included low clouds and low visibility with fog, the investigation was unable to conclusively determine if the flight cleared the lowest cloud ceiling.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 13, 2009, at 1141 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182, N6202A, collided with terrain approximately 14 miles east-northeast of Pryor, Montana. The private pilot, who was also the registered owner of the airplane, was operating it under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The pilot and one passenger were killed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot departed from the Sheridan County Airport, Sheridan, Wyoming, about 1100, and was destined for Laurel Municipal Airport, Laurel, Montana. According to a family member of the pilot, the pilot and passenger had departed from Laurel at 0700 the morning of the accident to conduct work in Sheridan. They landed about 0815. The pilot had contacted a family member and advised that the return flight would take longer than normal due to poor weather conditions along the route of flight. They departed from Sheridan about 1100. When the airplane did not arrive, family members contacted authorities to initiate a search for the airplane. Due to low visibility and cloud layers on the day of the accident, the searchers were limited in their aerial search capabilities. The wreckage was located by aerial search and rescue volunteers the morning of October 14. An airport lineman working at the Sheridan airport the morning of the accident reported that the accident airplane landed between 0800 and 0900. The pilot requested that the fuel tanks be fueled to capacity. The pilot and passenger then left the airport and returned about 1045. The airplane departed at 1100. According to the lineman, who was also a private pilot, “the weather conditions were poor” the day of the accident, with limited visibility and cold temperatures. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 58, held a private pilot certificate that was issued on September 20, 2004. He held a first-class medical certificate that was issued on September 10, 2009, and the certificate did not hold any limitations or wavers. Investigators recovered a pilot logbook from the accident site. A page in the logbook showed that it was "Logbook 2" and was started in March of 2008. The last entry was dated on October 10, 2009, and showed a total of 724.3 hours in single-engine airplanes. Additionally, the logbook noted that the pilot attended the Montana Department of Aeronautics 2009 Mountain Search Pilot Clinic in September where he accrued 2.7 hours of instruction. Additional logbook copies were provided by the pilot's family. The pilot's last flight review was noted in his logbook as September 9, 2007, when he attended the Montana Department of Aeronautics 2007 Mountain Search Pilot Clinic. Due to a change in the program since 2007, the clinic no longer served as a flight review. Whether or not the pilot thought that he satisfied the flight review requirements when he attended the clinic in 2009 could not be determined. No record of a current flight review was found. Records obtained from the clinic from 2007 and 2009 showed that the instructors that flew with the pilot recommended that he receive additional flight instruction. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The four-seat, fixed-gear, high-wing airplane, serial number (SN) 33002 was manufactured in 1956. It was powered by a Teledyne Continental Motors O-470-L-1 (SN 66002-5-L) engine equipped with a McCauley 2A36C1-TS propeller (SN 55567). Review of the maintenance logbooks showed that the last annual inspection was completed on October 1, 2008, at a total aircraft time of 3,798.89 hours and a tachometer time of 1,411.89 hours. The last maintenance entry was in the engine logbook and noted an oil change on March 14, 2009, at a tachometer time of 1,435.8 hours. MEDICAL INFORMATION The Big Horn County Coroner completed an autopsy on the pilot. The cause of death was listed as accidental due to injuries sustained in the accident. The FAA's Civil Aeromedical Research Institute completed toxicology testing on specimens of the pilot. The results were negative for cyanide, volatiles, and all tested drugs. Carbon monoxide testing was not able to be performed. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION The nearest aviation weather reporting facility was Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, Montana, located about 27 miles northwest of the accident site. The airport is at an elevation of 3,652 feet. At 1153, the following conditions were reported: winds calm, visibility 10 statute miles, cloud ceilings overcast at 1,000 feet, temperature minus 2 degrees Celsius, dew point minus 4 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 29.95 inches of Mercury. The accident site was in a remote area without weather observation facilities. Area forecasts showed that airman's meteorological information (AIRMETs) Sierra (mountain obscuration) and Zulu (icing) Update 2 were in effect at the time of the accident. Search and rescue volunteers reported that at the time of the accident, low fog covered the area of the accident site. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT The airplane impacted sloped terrain of a canyon side wall, and the debris field was approximately 200 feet in length. The first identified point of impact was a line in the dirt that led to a large crater of disrupted earth. Below this crater, there were three distinct marks in the terrain. From the left mark to the center mark was 4 feet; from the right mark to the center mark was 3 feet 3 inches. The nose landing gear was located about 10 feet below these marks. Approximately 10 feet from the crater, the engine, propeller, and firewall were identified. The propeller remained attached to the engine. Continuing in the debris path, portions of the right aileron and left outboard elevator were located. The outboard section of the right wing was located 20 feet from this position. The main wreckage was located approximately 40 feet from the right wing, and slightly downslope. The inboard portion of the right wing was intertwined with the main wreckage. The main wreckage was followed in the debris field by the right door and left occupant seat, the left wing, and the left door. TESTS AND RESEARCH Airframe Examination The Cessna 182 was examined. The right and left wing were separated from the fuselage. The right wing was separated into two sections. The wing strut inboard remained attached with the fuselage by the control cables. Both the ailerons and flaps on the right wing were separated. The right aileron was separated into two sections; one inboard of the aileron bellcrank and one outboard of the bellcrank. The left wing inboard section of aileron remained attached. The outboard section of the aileron was located nearby. The left flap remained attached. All control surfaces were accounted for at the accident site. The engine had separated from the fuselage at the firewall, and the propeller remained secured to the propeller flange. The outboard right wing had separated from the fuselage at the wing strut; the inboard portion of the right wing remained attached to the fuselage by control cables. The left wing separated from the fuselage at the wing root. The cables for the rudder and elevators were continuous from the control surfaces to their attach points in the cockpit. The aft cabin bulkhead was wrinkled and folded and had trapped the rudder and elevator control cables within it so no movement could be obtained. Separation of the control cables for the ailerons exhibited broomstrawing. The flap handle separated from the airplane, and the flap reading could not be ascertained. The airplane was equipped with 27.5 gallon bladder tanks, and they were breached. The fuel selector sustained damage, and a mark was evident on the selector casing between the “Both” position and the “Left” position. The throttle, propeller, and mixture controls were found in the full forward positions. The electronic locator transmitter was destroyed during the impact sequence. The tachometer showed 2,400 revol