Cessna 177 N30255

Summary

On 3 December 1996 at about 20:40 local time, a Cessna 177 registered N30255 was involved in an accident near Regan, North Dakota, United States. 2 people were 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

3 December 1996 at 20:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Regan, North Dakota, United States

Coordinates

47.1510, -100.5191

Aircraft

Cessna 177

Registration

N30255

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Harvey → Bismarck

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI97LA036

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's intentional flight into adverse weather. Factors were clouds, the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision making, his poor evaluation of the weather, and the encounter with unsuitable terrain for landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot obtained a weather forecast in the morning for a flight initiated in the afternoon. While en route he encountered low clouds short of his destination. He called the airport of intended landing and found that the existing weather was instrument meteorological conditions. He descended through a hole in the clouds in an attempt to locate visual instrument conditions, was unable to do so, and made an emergency landing on unsuitable terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.