# Accident 20000224003179A: Cessna 182E, Taos, NM, February 24, 2000

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 24, 2000, 18:45 local time
- Place: Taos, NM
- Airport: Taos Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Descent
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.4698° N, 105.6192° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.4698&lon=-105.6192&mi=10
- Aircraft: N2988Y, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N2988Y-2000-12-07) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 182E (registry code 2072712, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-182e) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 182E
- Reported engine: CONT O470R
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 732 total, 630 in this make and model, 17 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB DEN00FA053](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN00FA053) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20000224003179A

## Narrative

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

THE INSTRUMENT RATED PRIVATE PILOT RECEIVED AN IN-PERSON ABBREVIATED WEATHER BRIEFING FROM THE ALBUQUERQUE FLIGHT SERVICE STATION (FSS), AND LOCAL WEATHER REPORTS FROM A FRIEND WHO LIVED NEAR THE TAOS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT VIA TELEPHONE AND AIRCRAFT RADIO. FSS ADVISED THE PILOT THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO MOUNTAIN TOPS BEING OBSCURED, TURBULENCE, AND ICING CONDITIONS.  HIS FRIEND SAID IT WAS SNOWING AT HIS HOME.  THE PILOT THEN FILED A VFR FLIGHT PLAN FOR THE DARK NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, AND DEPARTED ALBUQUERQUE FOR TAOS.  LATER, HE RADIOED HIS FRIEND AND TOLD HIM THAT THE SNOW HAD MOVED IN BEHIND HIM, HE HAD THE AIRPORT IN SIGHT, BUT WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE RUNWAY LIGHTS BECAUSE HE WAS 'IN AND OUT OF SNOW SHOWERS.'  THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TERRAIN 1.5 MILES EAST OF THE AIRPORT.  TOXICOLOGICAL TESTS REVEALED THAT THE PILOT, A PSYCHIATRIST, WAS POSITIVE FOR FLUOXETINE (PROZAC), A CONTRAINDICATED PRESCRIPTION DRUG, KNOWN TO AFFECT JUDGEMENT.                                                                                                                                                                                                        (-23) ON FEBRUARY 24, 2000, AT APPROXIMATELY 1857 MST, A CESSNA 182-E, N2988Y, OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE PILOT CRASHED 11/2 MILES EAST OF THE TAOS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AT EL PRADO, NM. THE PRIVATE INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT ON BOARD, WAS FATALLY INJURED. APPROXIMATELY TWO MINUTES PRIOR TO IMPACT HE REPORTED BY RADIO TO GROUND PERSONNEL THAT HE HAD ENCOUNTERED INTERMITTENT INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITONS WITH ICING WHILE OPERATING 500 FEET AGL. HE RECEIVED A VFR NOT RECOMMENDED FACE TO FACE BRIEFING FROM AN ALBUQUERQUE AFSS SPECIALIST PRIOR TO DEPARTING ALBUQUERQUE, BUT DID NOT FILE A FLIGHT PLAN. THERE WAS NO FIRE.

## 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 DEN00FA053](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN00FA053), Feb 25, 2000: Cessna 182E (N2988Y), El Prado, NM, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's improper preflight planning/preparation in that he initiated flight into known adverse weather, and continued VFR flight into IMC to the point where remedial action was not possible.…

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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