Cessna TR182 N756YE

Summary

On 6 November 1998 at about 20:25 local time, a Cessna TR182 registered N756YE, operated by U.s. Fish & Wildlife Service, was involved in an accident near Desert Aire, Washington, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 November 1998 at 20:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Desert Aire, Washington, United States

Coordinates

46.7203, -119.7295

Aircraft

Cessna TR182

Registration

N756YE

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

U.s. Fish & Wildlife Service

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Kennewick → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA99TA010

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude and/or clearance over a power line crossing the river, resulting in collision with a static wire at the top of the crossing structure. Factors included the static wire, and inadequate marking of the static wire.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Approximately 4 hours into a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFand WS) low-level waterfowl survey flight along the Columbia River, while flying down river (eastbound), the aircraft struck a static line on a power line crossing the river and crashed into the river. The pilot escaped the aircraft with serious injuries, but two USFand WS employees aboard the aircraft, acting as observers for the waterfowl survey, did not escape the submerged aircraft and drowned. The pilot reported that at the time of the wire strike, he saw the transmission lines and towers and was climbing to clear the transmission lines, but that he was unaware of the smaller-diameter static line's presence above the transmission lines and did not see it. The aircraft struck the static line 122 feet above the surface. The static line, the highest wire on the structure, was not marked according to current FAA standards. An FAA aerial survey of the crossing conducted after the accident revealed that while an adjacent power line crossing approximately 1/4 mile east of the accident crossing was conspicuously marked and lighted, the lines which were struck were very difficult to see even in good visibility conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.