Cessna 172R N35255

Summary

On 28 March 2003 at about 01:35 local time, a Cessna 172R registered N35255, operated by Knoxville Flight Training Center, was involved in an accident near Cherokee, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 March 2003 at 01:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Cherokee, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.5667, -83.4906

Aircraft

Cessna 172R

Registration

N35255

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Knoxville Flight Training Center

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia → Knoxville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ATL03FA070

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance, which resulted in an in-flight collision with mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was receiving flight following from the Knoxville Downtown Airport Tower. The pilot requested the Automated Weather Observing System frequency and started his descent to the Knoxville Downtown Airport. At 2035, radio and radar contact was lost. At 2042, the airplane's emergency locator transmitter emergency signal was heard over the emergency frequency. Local authorities initiated a search for the missing airplane, and the downed airplane was located on March 28, 2003, at 1000 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at Klingman's Dome, at an elevation of approximately 6,400 feet. The airframe examination revealed no evidence of mechanical anomalies. The engine examination revealed no evidence of any mechanical anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.