- Date
- November 11, 1990, 11:40 local (16:40 UTC)
- Place
- Walker, MI
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9075XCessna 182D
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901111049659A
- Case key
- 14885
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
VFR flight into IMC conditions. Factors related to the accident are failure to obtain a preflight weather briefing, becoming lost/disoriented, induction air filter icing, excessive workload, and lack of total experience in type of operation.
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
Pilot departed on local flight without obtaining preflight weather briefing. When the pilot, who was not instrument rated, attempted to return to his point of departure he flew into a line of snow showers which had moved in off of lake Michigan. Pilot contacted ATC who provided radar service and vectors to VMC conditions for 30 minutes. Pilot could not hold heading long enough to fly out of snow shower. Aircraft crashed in densely wooded area. Witnesses report hearing aircraft engine running erratically. Investigators found the induction air filter frozen and ice covered.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9075X
- Reported as
- Cessna 182D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18253475
- Airframe hours
- 873
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Charles Z. Maxfield
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 31, 1990 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- 3GM · Grand Haven, MI
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 80 total · 10 in this make and model · 55 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 20 knots, gusting 32
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GRR, 13 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.