# Accident 19990505004659A: Cessna 172, Fontana, NC, May 5, 1999

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: May 5, 1999, 19:45 local time
- Place: Fontana, NC
- Damage: Destroyed
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 35.4198° N, 83.4406° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.4198&lon=-83.4406&mi=10
- Aircraft: N30DS, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N30DS-2000-05-01) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 172 (registry code 2072402, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB MIA99FA150](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA99FA150) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990505004659A

## Narrative

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

PILOT CONTACTED TYS APPROACH AND REPORTED THE ACFT WAS LEVEL AT 2,500 FEET INBOUND TO THE DKX ARPT IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, RADAR AND RADIO CONTACT WERE LOST AT 2342Z, AND THE ACFT IS ASSUMED TO HAVE CRASHED, AN ALNOT WAS ISSUED AND SEARCH IS UNDERWAY, ALL OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, THE ACFT WAS LAST HEARD FROM IN THE VICINITY OF FONTANA, NC. (-23)CESSNA 172 N30DS CRASHED WHILE ON A PERSONAL FLIGHT FROM JACKSONVILLE, FL TO KNOXVILLE, TN (DKX AIRPORT).  THE PILOT IMPACTED RISING TERRAIN IN THE GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK IN MARGINAL VMC WEATHER CONDITIONS WHILE RECEIVING VFR ADVISORIES FROM TYS ATCT PERSONNEL.  THE HAD CONTACTED TYS APPROACH CONTROL AND REPORTED LEVEL AT 8,500 FEET.  HE WAS ADVISED THAT TOPS  HAD BEEN REPORTED AT 7,000 FEET, AND THE CLOUS VASES AS APPROXIMATELY 3,400 FEET MSL.  THE PILOT SAID HE HAD GROUND CONTACT, WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AND WOULD DESCEND UNDER VFR.  CONTROLLERS LOST RADIO AND TRANSPONDER CONTACT WITH THE ARICRAFT AND A TWO DAY SEARCH WAS INITIATED.  THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND WHERE IMPACTED A 6,000 FEET MSL ELEVATION MOUNTAIN AT APPROXIMATELY 4,800 FEET MSL.

## 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 MIA99FA150](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA99FA150), May 5, 1999: Cessna 172 (N30DS), Fontana, NC, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: the pilot continued visual flight into know weather conditions which resulted in reduced visibility, and the subsequent in-flight collision with rising terrain. Factors in this accidents were clouds…

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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