# NTSB CEN25FA157: Cessna 180, N2908C, Fremont, NE, April 19, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · Fatal · Class 3 · Field · Preliminary report
- Date: April 18, 2025, 20:11 local (Apr 19, 2025, 01:11 UTC)
- Place: Fremont, NE
- Coordinates: 41.41593, -96.53016
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.4159&lon=-96.5302&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Enroute: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470)
- Highest injury: Fatal
- Injuries: 3 fatal
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Central Region
- Parties: FAA, Continental Aerospace Technologies, Textron Aviation
- NTSB case key (mKey): 200035
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN25FA157
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200035/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN25FA157

## Preliminary report

On April 18, 2025, about 2011 central daylight time, a Cessna 180, N2908C, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fremont, Nebraska. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight arrived at the Fremont Municipal Airport (FET), Fremont, Nebraska, from Moundridge, Kansas, and friends had come to the airport to pick up the pilot and his wife. After arriving, the pilot and friends decided to take a quick flight, and the pilot’s wife waited at the airport. The pilot’s wife told him not to fly the river because it was getting too dark. About 2005, the airplane departed FET, and about 2008, one of the passengers texted a friend who lived on the river that they were flying up the river. About 2010, the other passenger sent a Snapchat to his son, and about minute later, the accident occurred. A witness recalled that motion caught her eye, and she turned her head in time to see an airplane flying low and to the west up the river. She observed the airplane collide with the high-tension powerlines over the river. She saw part of the tail of the airplane separate from the plane and fall into the river. The airplane then slowly climbed and at first appeared to be flying away without issue. The airplane then turned and descended suddenly until it crashed into the river with a large splash. Another witness recorded video of the airplane making the turn and descent into the water. The airplane engine could be heard running in the video.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Enroute: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 180, 54 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2072602), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N2908C](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N2908C), registered now, S/N 30808, built 1954 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 180
- Registry model: [Cessna 180](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180) (registry code 2072602) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (registry code 17026, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 30808
- Year built: 1954
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Departed: KFET, Fremont, NE
- Destination: Same as departure

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Dusk
- Wind: 330° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 6,000 ft overcast
- Temperature: 48 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter: 30.02 inHg
- Observed at: KFET, 2 nm away
- METAR: KFET 190115Z AUTO 33012KT 10SM OVC060 09/M02 A3002 RMK AO2 T00901025

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20250418003479A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250418003479A), Apr 18, 2025: Cessna 180, Fremont, NE, Substantial damage, 3 fatal. Pilot and passengers departed Fremont municipal airport at approximatly 2000 CDT. Aircraft was flying west northwest above the platte river. Aircraft came in…

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.

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