Cessna 172M N9179D

Summary

On 25 October 2006 at about 01:58 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N9179D was involved in an accident near Escalante, Utah, 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

25 October 2006 at 01:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Escalante, Utah, United States

Coordinates

37.5347, -111.1878

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N9179D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mesa → Provo

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA07FA012

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of experience of flying on instruments on a dark night and in rainy weather.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed for a night positioning cross-country flight over very sparsely populated country. The flight progressed into a weather frontal system with light to heavy rain. Radar data and an onboard handheld GPS receiver show the aircraft spiraling to the left and accelerating to a high rate of speed until impact. The following morning, a helicopter was sent to the last radar return, and found the downed aircraft. It was fragmented, and the engine was found 1,200 feet from its initial impact point. The pilot had approximately 480 hours of flight experience, with no actual instrument-meteorological-condition (IMC) flying experience. He had approximately 15 hours of night flying, most of which was flown between 22 to 24 months before the accident flight. The postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no preimpact anomalies which might have affected the airplane's flight performance.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.