# Accident 19970907025539A: Cessna 177B, Crump, MI, September 7, 1997

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 7, 1997, 13:20 local time
- Place: Crump, MI
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 43.7539° N, 84.0872° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Crump, MI, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=43.7539&lon=-84.0872&mi=10
- Aircraft: N34142, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N34142-1999-12-15) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 177B (registry code 2073708, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-177b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 177B
- Reported engine: LYC O360A1F6
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 300 total
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI97FA283](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI97FA283) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970907025539A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

PILOT REQUESTED TO CLIMB TO 6500FT, NEXT TRANSMISSION WAS A HELP ME, LOST RADAR AND RADIO CONTACT. CRASHED. (.4)THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PRIVATE PILOT WAS ADVISED BY THE FAA FLIGHT SERVICE STATION (FSS) SPECIALIST THAT '...THERE HAVE BEEN IFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES THROUGH [YOUR] ROUTE [OF FLIGHT].'  THE SPECIALIST TOLD THE PILOT THAT THE CEILING ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH OF THE ACCIDENT SITE WAS VARYING BETWEEN 300 AND 1,300-FEET ABOVE THE GROUND.  THE SPECIALIST TOLD THE PILOT THAT CONDITIONS SHOULD START TO IMPROVE WITHIN AN HOUR TO AN HOUR-AND-A-HALF AFTER THEIR CONVERSATION.  THE PILOT SAID SHE'D CALL BACK IN '...A HALF HOUR OR SO.'  THERE WAS NO RECORD OF THE RETURN TELEPHONE CALL BY THE PILOT.  ABOUT 2-HOURS LATER, THE PILOT CONTACTED APPROACH CONTROL AND REPORTED THE AIRPLANE WAS LEVEL AT 2,500-FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL (MSL).  ABOUT 12 MINUTES LATER THE PILOT ASKED THE CONTROLLER IF SHE COULD CLIMB TO 5,500- FEET MSL.  THE CONTROLLER SUGGESTED SHE CLIMB THE AIRPLANE TO 6,500-FEET MSL DUE TO HER NORTHWESTERLY HEADING. THE PILOT ADVISED THE CONTROLLER SHE WOULD CLIMB THE AIRPLANE TO 4,500-FEET MSL.  ANOTHER PILOT REPORTED (PIREP) INSTR                                          UMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AT 5,000-FEET MSL TO THE CONTROLLER. ABOUT 4-MINUTES AFTER THE PIREP THE PILOT OF THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE REQUESTED A CLIMB TO 6,500-FEET MSL.  THE CONTROLLER APPROVED THE CLIMB.  ABOUT A MINUTE LATER THE CONTROLLER REPORTED HEARING A DISTRESS CALL FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE, 'HELP ME. HELP ME'.  WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING THE AIRPLANE EXIT THE CLOUDS IN A STEEP, PITCHED DOWN ATTITUDE.  THEY REPORTED THE AIRPLANE'S RIGHT WING DISINTEGRATED AS IT BANKED TO THE LEFT.  THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED DURING AN IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP AND COLLISION WITH TREES AND THE GROUND.  NO ANOMALIES WERE FOUND WITH THE AIRFRAME, CONTROL SYSTEM OR ENGINE THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED FLIGHT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI97FA283](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI97FA283), Sep 7, 1997: Cessna 177B (N34142), Crump, MI, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: Continued flight by the non-instrument rated pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and her failure to maintain control of the airplane, due to spatial disorientation. Related factors…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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