- Date
- February 14, 1992, 18:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Shishmaref, AK
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Uncontrolled descent
- Aircraft
- N2788XCessna 180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920214003009A
- Case key
- 5692
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The non-instrumented rated pilot-in-command attempted visual flight into known instrument meteorological conditions. Factors contributing to the accident were the fog, the icing conditions, and the pilot's over confidence in his personal ability.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane, on a visual flight with a non-instrument rated pilot at the controls, entered fog immediately after becoming airborne. The airplane was observed to exit the fog about 30 seconds later heading in the opposite direction at a very low altitude and in a slight left turn before impacting the ground. Personnel who arrived at the scene immediately after the occurrence reported seeing the plane's wings and horizontal stabilizer glazed over with ice. The pilot reportedly scraped ice off of the plane's propeller and wings prior to commencing the flight. The 1815 AWOS recorded a partial obscuration, ceiling 200 ft. overcast, and a visibility of 2 miles.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2788X
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18051588
- Engine
- Continental O-470R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sheldon, Robert J.
- Registered owner
- Sheldon, Robert J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 2000 · 89 hours before
- Destination
- OTZ · Kotzebue, AK
- Airport
- K09 · New Shishmaref, runway 23, 5,000 × 70 ft, snow
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 35
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 778 total · 663 in this make and model · 725 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- -2 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SHH, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N2788X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.