History of Flight
On Friday, August 15, 2008, at about 0915 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182T airplane, registration N487TC, was destroyed when it impacted terrain on Mount Guyot near Georgia Pass in Park County, Colorado. The instrument-rated private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The cross-country flight originated at Bob Adams Airport (SBS) in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with an intended destination of Brenham Municipal Airport (11R) in Brenham, Texas.
The airplane first appeared on radar at 0844 at 9,200 feet mean sea level (MSL), six miles south of SBS. The flight path showed a steady climb then leveling off at approximately 11,200 feet MSL. The radar track followed Victor Airway 421 southeasterly, crossed the Kremmling VORTAC, and then followed Victor Airway 328 at 11,200 feet MSL. The minimum published safe en route altitude for Victor Airway 328 is 16,500 feet MSL. The last radar contact was at 0902 at 11,200 feet MSL, 30 miles southeast of the Kremmling VOR. The accident site was located 30 miles southeast of the last radar contact and five miles southwest of Victor Airway 328.
A witness, located 6.6 miles northwest of the accident site, reported hearing a low-flying airplane between 0830 and 0915. She stated the airplane was flying very low to the east of her home, heading south. She looked outside but did not see the airplane, estimating it was within 300 yards of her home. She noted the engine sounded good. Weather at her location was cloudy without rain at the time; rain began between 0930 and 1030. She observed smoke coming from Mount Guyot around 1030 but did not consider it significant at the time. There was no evidence the pilot obtained a weather briefing prior to departure or filed a flight plan.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, airplane multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration third-class medical was issued on August 22, 2007, with no limitations. Examination of the pilot's logbook recovered at the accident site indicated a total flight time of 1,576 hours, consisting of 154 actual instrument hours and 39.7 simulated instrument hours, as of the last entry on June 22, 2007. Airplane rental records indicated the pilot had accumulated 71.1 hours in the accident airplane between February 2006 and August 8, 2008, with 46.7 of those hours between August 16, 2007, and August 8, 2008. His last recorded flight review was an instrument check-ride completed on May 13, 2008, in the accident airplane.
Aircraft Information
The 2004-model Cessna 182T, serial number 18281486, was a high-wing airplane with fixed tricycle landing gear, configured for four occupants. It was powered by a Lycoming AEIO-540 SER engine, serial number L-29918-48A, rated at 230 horsepower at 2,400 rpm, driving a three-bladed, controllable-pitch, metal McCauley propeller. According to the airframe logbook, the most recent annual inspection was completed on February 8, 2008, and the most recent 100-hour inspection on June 24, 2008, at an airframe total time of 1,492.4 hours. The engine had been inspected in accordance with the annual inspection on February 8, 2008, and a 100-hour inspection on June 24, 2008. The airplane was equipped with a Garmin G1000 avionics suite, XM satellite weather downlink, and a Stormscope.
Meteorological Information
Upper air analysis indicated an upper low over Wyoming during the morning of August 15. Easterly upslope flow advected abundant moisture and scattered rain to the front range of the Colorado Rockies. Upper-level instability and abundant low- and mid-level moisture over the central Colorado Rockies produced scattered rain and snow showers over higher elevations, with isolated embedded thunderstorms occasionally present. The morning Weather Depiction and Radar Summary charts indicated marginal VFR and IFR conditions with scattered light rain/snow showers over northern Colorado. The Radar Summary chart showed isolated thunderstorms over the central part of the state.
Weather observations from Yampa Valley (KHDN) and Mount Werner (K3MW) indicated multiple cloud layers in the area surrounding Steamboat Springs, with cloud bases at about 12,600 and 18,600 feet MSL. Visible satellite imagery showed probable breaks in the cloud layers near SBS at 0845. Observations from Kremmling AWOS (K20V) and Red Cliff Pass (KCCU) indicated a broken-overcast layer between 16,000 and 17,000 feet MSL, with scattered clouds below. Infrared and visible satellite imagery showed overcast conditions between SBS and an area northeast of KCCU, with maximum cloud tops of the broken-overcast layer at approximately 19,000 feet MSL. Visible data indicated an area of scattered to broken clouds from northeast of KCCU to near the accident site. Visible satellite images at 0845 and 0915 showed that clouds in the accident area increased in areal and vertical extent during that 30-minute period. The lumpy appearance of clouds just east of the accident location was consistent with convective cloud formation. Enhanced infrared satellite images confirmed that cloud tops near the accident site cooled during the period, with cloud-top temperatures indicating heights between 21,000 and 30,000 feet MSL. Weather radar data indicated level 1 and level 2 returns near the accident location. AIRMETs for instrument meteorological conditions and mountain obscuration were valid for the accident time.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The wreckage was located on the southeast side of Mount Guyot, near Georgia Pass in Park County, at approximately 12,300 feet MSL. The terrain was open and rocky above the vegetative tree line, with a slope of 35 degrees. A single impact point was located 20 feet uphill of the main wreckage, indicated by scarring on rocks, disturbed soil, and discolored foliage. Airplane damage and impact site disruption indicated the airplane was approximately 55 degrees nose-low, wings level, and heading 295 degrees at impact. The fuselage lay 20 feet below the point of impact on a heading of 200 degrees. The cockpit, wing center section, and inboard sections of both wing fuel tank areas were consumed by fire, including the instrument panel and switches. The right wing lay nearly parallel to the fuselage on the right side near the empennage, and the left wing lay nearly parallel near the engine on the left side. Leading edges of both wings showed aft accordion crushing.
Flight control cable continuity was confirmed for all flight controls. The left wing aileron and flap cables separated at the wing root with tension overload signatures. The elevator trim tab actuator measurement equated to approximately five degrees tab up. Flap actuator measurements indicated the flaps were retracted. One propeller blade was found separated from the hub near the initial impact point; the other two remained attached. The free blade had chordwise scratching and a missing chunk from the leading edge near the tip. One attached blade had the tip melted and curled aft; the other had chordwise scratches. A propeller strike ground scar was noted at the initial impact location.
Engine examination revealed the left magneto was knocked off and mostly consumed by fire. The right magneto was heat damaged; when the drive was rotated, no spark was observed. The fuel pump was broken free from the flange and mostly consumed by fire. The fuel servo was broken free from the sump. The throttle cable was broken at the rod end; the mixture cable remained attached. The regulator cover brass hex plug was found tight and safety-wired. The fuel servo screen was free of debris, as were the fuel injectors. The fuel flow divider showed no anomalies. Cylinders were borescope-inspected with no anomalies noted. The crankshaft was rotated by hand, and thumb compression was noted at all cylinders; engine drive train continuity was established throughout. The oil pickup screen and propeller governor screen were free of debris. Spark plugs appeared normal per the Champion Aviation Check-A-Plug Chart AV-27, except for oil on numbers 2, 4, and 6. The engine was found upside down and left side low. A hole was knocked in near the center bottom of the oil sump. The exhaust was mostly intact but crushed upward and rearward. The vacuum pump revealed a cracked rotor with vanes intact; the drive coupler was melted. There was no evidence of catastrophic in-flight engine failure or power loss.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Office of the Medical Examiner of Jefferson County, Golden, Colorado, performed an autopsy on the pilot on August 19, 2008. The cause of death was attributed to massive bodily injury secondary to blunt force trauma. The FAA Toxicology Accident Research Laboratory conducted toxicological testing on the pilot. The pilot tested negative for carbon monoxide and cyanide, and positive for ibuprofen in his blood.