# Accident 20040920024719A: Cessna U206G, Essex, MT, September 20, 2004

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 20, 2004, 15:30 local time
- Place: Essex, MT
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 48.3169° N, 113.7361° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=48.3169&lon=-113.7361&mi=10
- Aircraft: N206SM, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N206SM-2009-03-19) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna U206G (registry code 2073356, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-u206g) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-520 series (registry code 17032, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA U206G
- Reported engine: CONT IO520F
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 3
- Pilot flight hours: 2,723 total, 7 in this make and model, 48 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB SEA04GA192](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA04GA192) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040920024719A

## Narrative

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

(-23) WITNESSES STATED THAT N206SM, A CESSNA 206, DEPARTED KALISPELL (FCA), MONTANA, WITH 1 PILOT AND 4 U.S. FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEES ON BOARD. WITNESSES NOTED DARK CLOUDS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE INTENDED FLIGHT. ACCORDING TO THE SURVIVING PASSENGERS, THE PILOT HAD BECOME DISORIENTED WHEN A CHECKPOINT WAS ERRONEOUSLY IDENTIFIED. THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK A MOUNTAIN UNDER DETERIORIATING WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED. THERE WERE 3 FATALITIES. THE TWO SURVIVING PASSENGERS MANAGED TO WALK OUT OF THE WILDERNESS WITH SERIOUS INJURIES.

## 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 SEA04GA192](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA04GA192), Sep 20, 2004: Cessna U206G (N206SM), Essex, MT, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's misidentification of the airplane's location, which resulted in his improper decision to fly into the wrong drainage, and his failure to maintain terrain clearance while executing a turn…

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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