- Date
- May 22, 1990, 15:10 local (19:10 UTC)
- Place
- Highland, NC
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N55AGCessna 182RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900522020319A
- Case key
- 8132
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 pilot's attempted VFR flight in IMC. Factors in the accident are the pilot's inaccurate weather evaluation and poor in flight decision.
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 pilot filed a flight plan into an airport without an instrument procedure. Weather conditions around the airport were not visual, and the high terrain was obscured by clouds. The pilot canceled his instrument clearance and attempted a visual entry. He collided with a 4200 foot ridge 15 miles from the destination airport. Weather at the airport was 2000 feet with 7 miles visibility. The field elevation is 2020 feet. The airplane crashed into the rocky face of the mountain and was restrained from sliding down slope by vegetation. The wreckage burned and was located 6 days after the crash. Wreckage examination failed to reveal mechanical problems.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55AG
- Reported as
- Cessna 182RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- RG18200076
- Airframe hours
- 1,975
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-J3C5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John E. Godwin Jr.
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1989 · 165 hours before
- Departed
- GSO · Greensboro, NC
- Destination
- 1A5 · Franklin, NC
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
- 77
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 1,975 in this make and model · 20,000 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.