- Date
- November 1, 1992, 19:00 local (Nov 2, 1992, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Valentine, NE
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N206RBCessna U206F
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921101045589A
- Case key
- 15575
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-in-command's intentional flight into an area of low ceilings, and his failure to maintain an altitude sufficient for terrain clearance. Factors which contributed to the accident were: the pilot's overconfidence, the low ceiling and the dark night condition.
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 impacted rising terrain 31 mi south of the destination. A witness in the vicinity of the accident site reported seeing the airplane flying at between 100-300 ft AGL just below the clouds with an estimated ground visibility at about 1 mi. The pilot had received two weather briefings and was aware of low ceilings. His reply to a 500-FT overcast was '...five hundred up there doesn't bother me because ah, I'm, I'm real familiar with the area.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N206RB
- Reported as
- Cessna U206F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- U20602649
- Airframe hours
- 1,950
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stotts, Rex R., doing business as Rex And Marie Stotts Ranch
- Registered owner
- Stotts, Rex R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 23, 1992
- Departed
- LNK · Lincoln, NE
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
- 66
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,592 total · 30 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 330° at 11 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,100 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VTN, 30 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.