CEN26LA213

On January 22, 2026, about 18:40 eastern standard time, a Cessna 182T, N116D was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Newberry, Michigan. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The airplane departed from Saginaw County Airport (HYX), Saginaw, Michigan, about 17:15 on an instrument flight rules flight plan, flew northwest, and climbed to 10,000 ft mean sea level (msl). About 1 hour and 20 minutes after departing HYX, the pilot informed Minneapolis Center (ZMP) that the airplane was encountering ”a little bit of ice” and requested a 30° heading change to avoid clouds. ADS-B data revealed that the airplane made a heading change of about 30° to the west-northwest. About 12 minutes later, the airplane began to descend in a spiral pattern from 10,000 ft msl. ZMP attempted to contact the pilot twice, but the pilot did not respond. About 1 minute after the airplane began the descent, the pilot told ZMP that the airplane was upside down and that he needed help. ZMP attempted to communicate with the pilot, but there was no response from him. About 2 minutes after the descent started, the pilot told ZMP that he was in control of the airplane and the airplane was level at 1,400 ft msl. ZMP asked the pilot to climb the airplane to 3,000 ft msl and gave him the option to land the airplane at Luce County Airport (ERY), Newberry, Michigan. The data showed that the airplane climbed to 3,000 ft msl and proceeded toward ERY. The pilot landed the airplane without further incident about 19:10 at ERY. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.