History of Flight
On August 28, 2016, at approximately 1445 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182D, registration N9936T, impacted terrain following a loss of control while attempting to land at Rock Creek Airport (RC0) in Clinton, Montana. The private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The local flight was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. No flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed at about 1400 from Missoula International Airport (MSO), Missoula, Montana, with Rock Creek Airport as its destination.
A witness, a friend of the pilot who is also a pilot, observed the accident. The airplane initially overflew the airport from east to west, then turned back to the east on an extended right downwind for runway 25. The witness stated that on final approach, the airplane was stable and the wind was out of the west, "...right down runway 25 at about 8 knots." When the airplane was about 15 feet above the runway and preparing to land, it suddenly turned 90 degrees to the right at an estimated bank angle of 30 to 40 degrees. The airplane subsequently collided with a stand of trees bordering the runway on the north and then impacted the ground before coming to rest upright on the shoulder of Interstate 90. Shortly after, a fire erupted, consuming the forward two-thirds of the airplane.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine and multi-engine land. The pilot's personal flight logbook was not recovered. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data, the pilot was issued a third-class airman medical certificate on December 12, 2014, with the restriction "must have available glasses for near vision." On that application, the pilot reported a total flight time of 632 hours. The witness/friend estimated that the pilot had accumulated 5 to 8 hours of flight time in the accident airplane over several months of attempting to purchase it.
Aircraft Information
The Cessna 182D was a four-seat, high-wing, fixed-gear airplane, serial number 18253036. It was equipped with a Continental Motors O-470-L1 engine, serial number 66983-6-L, and a McCauley 2A36C29-A, two-bladed, adjustable-pitch propeller. According to partial maintenance records, the most recent annual inspection was completed on June 22, 2016, at which time the engine had 934.8 hours since major overhaul and a tachometer reading of 2,135.0 hours. The previous annual inspection was on June 15, 2005, at a tachometer reading of 2,133.0 hours, indicating the engine had accumulated only 2 hours in the 11-year interval between inspections.
Meteorological Information
At 1453, the weather at Missoula International Airport, located about 23 nautical miles west of the accident site, was reported as wind calm, visibility 10 miles, sky clear, temperature 23°C, dew point -1°C, and altimeter setting 30.07 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
Examination of the accident site indicated that the airplane struck trees located about 650 feet west-northwest of the approach end of runway 25 and about 270 feet north of the runway centerline. The airplane came to rest upright on the south shoulder of Interstate 90 on a magnetic heading of about 145 degrees. The airplane was destroyed by thermal and impact damage.
Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine, attended by representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, Textron Aviation, and Continental Motors, Inc., revealed the following: The majority of the fuselage was consumed by post-crash fire. The right wing leading edge was crushed aft in a curve pattern, most pronounced about mid-span. The left wing leading edge was crushed aft, with slightly more crushing at the wing tip. The empennage aft of the baggage compartment was not burned and remained intact. Flight control cable continuity was established for all controls from the cockpit to control surface attach points. The aileron balance cable was separated due to tension overload. The flap handle was found in a flap extended position, but not in a detent, so exact flap position could not be determined. The trimmable horizontal stabilizer screw jack measured 7.1 inches, equating to the normal takeoff position.
The engine remained partially attached to the airframe with thermal and impact damage. The induction and exhaust systems were impact damaged; the oil sump was crushed upward. The airframe firewall was wrapped around the rear of the engine. The exhaust system was crushed upward; the muffler was partially crushed into the oil sump. The induction system balance tube was crushed into the crankcase. Both magnetos were partially separated from their mounting flanges, exhibited thermal and impact damage, rotated freely but did not produce spark, and water was observed leaking. Examination by a magneto repair station showed the left magneto did not function due to thermal damage; the right magneto functioned properly, producing spark at all terminals. The spark plugs had light and dark combustion deposits and worn electrodes. The ignition harness had thermal damage. The carburetor remained attached, was thermally damaged; the mixture control arm and shaft were bent; the throttle control arm moved with resistance but had debris around the throttle plate. The fuel screen was free of debris. The fuel bowl showed thermal damage to all interior components. The fuel strainer had thermal and impact damage, with some light debris on the screen; the glass bowl was intact. The oil pump was disassembled; the housing contained oil with normal operating signatures and light particle passage. The oil cooler had thermal and impact damage. Cylinder exteriors had thermal damage; borescope examination of combustion chambers revealed no anomalies. The crankshaft was rotated by hand, continuity through valve train to accessory section was confirmed, and thumb compression was present on all six cylinders. The starter was separated from the starter adaptor. The generator had thermal and impact damage. The vacuum pump was removed and disassembled with no anomalies. With the propeller governor removed, the drive gear turned freely; no oil was discharged. The control arm moved freely. The two-bladed propeller remained attached; one blade was relatively undamaged; the other was loose in the hub, bent slightly forward at mid-blade, with leading edge polishing and chord-wise scratches. The examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Montana State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the pilot. The cause of death was attributed to multiple blunt force injuries. The FAA's Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory conducted forensic toxicology examinations. No carbon monoxide was detected in blood; no ethanol was detected in urine; testing for cyanide was not performed. The drug salicylate, a metabolite of aspirin, was detected in urine.