# Accident 20031029037849A: Cessna 208B, Cody, WY, October 29, 2003

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 29, 2003, 08:53 local time
- Place: Cody, WY
- Airport: Yellowstone Regional Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: In Traffic Pattern-Circling
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: HSYA
- Location: 44.5017° N, 109.0356° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=44.5017&lon=-109.0356&mi=10
- Aircraft: N791FE (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 208B
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 11,094 total, 5,821 in this make and model, 90 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB DEN04MA015](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN04MA015) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20031029037849A

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON OCTOBER 29, 2003, AT 0853 MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME, A CESSNA 208B, N791FE, REGISTERED TO FEDEX AND OPERATED BY CORPORATE AIR, INC., BILLINGS, MONTANA, AS AIRSPUR 8773, WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED WHEN IT IMPACTED U.S. HIGHWAY 14 WHILE CIRCLING TO LAND FOLLOWING A VOR-A INSTRUMENT APPROACH TO YELLOWSTONE REGIONAL AIRPORT (COD), CODY, WYOMING. THE AIRLINE TRANSPORT CERTIFICATED PILOT WAS FATALLY INJURED. INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED FOR THE SCHEDULED DOMESTIC CARGO FLIGHT BEING OPERATED UNDER TITLE 14 CFR PART 135. AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED FOR THE FLIGHT THAT DEPARTED NATRONA COUNTY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (CPR), CASPER, WYOMING, APPROXIMATELY 0730. ENROUTE THE PILOT HELD OVER THE CODY VOR AT 12,000 FEET WAITING FOR WEATHER TO CLEAR AT CODY. WHILE HOLDING THE PILOT REPORTED TRACES OF RIME ICE TO THE FSS. THE PILOT THEN DISCUSSED THE WEATHER WITH INDIVIDUALS AT THE AIRPORT ON UNICOM AND STATED THAT HE WOULD ATTEMPT THE APPROACH AND IF HE COULD NOT MAKE IT IN HE WOULD DIVERT TO BILLINGS, MT. THEN, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO TURN ONTO BASE LEG ABEAM RUNWAY 04 APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. THE RIGHT WING DROPPED SHARPLY, FOLLOWED BY THE LEFT WING DROPPING SHARPLY, THEN THE AIRPLANE ROLLED TO THE RIGHT, WENT INVERTED, AND IMPACTED THE HIGHWAY. THE AIRPLANE SLID DOWN AN EMBANKMENT AND INTO ALKALI LAKE, COMING TO REST 40 FEET FROM SHORE.

## 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 DEN04MA015](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN04MA015), Oct 29, 2003: Cessna 208B (N791FE), Cody, WY, substantial damage, 1 fatal. Probable cause: the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing factors include the pilot's failure to divert to an alternate airport, an inadvertent stall, and the snow and icing conditions.

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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