# NTSB CHI98FA123: Cessna 180J, N828CE, Ashland, WI, April 15, 1998 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Field investigation · Final report - Date: April 15, 1998, 08:40 local (13:40 UTC) - Place: Ashland, WI - Coordinates: 46.569934, -90.870223 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=46.5699&lon=-90.8702&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal - Status: Completed, report February 15, 2001 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 10737 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CHI98FA123 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/10737/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI98FA123 ## Probable cause the pilot failing to maintain separation from the trees. Factors contributing to this accident were the trees and the pilot being too low in altitude. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, maneuvering - clearance - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - object - tree(s) (contributing factor) - altitude - low, pilot in command (contributing factor) - Loss of control - in flight, maneuvering - wing - separation - flight control,aileron - separation - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled ## Analysis A witness heard the pilot call on the radio and ask, 'Is the coffee on?' The witness told the pilot that the coffee was on. The pilot responded, 'Well then, I'll come in.' The next thing the witness recalled was a loud sound of an airplane engine and then the sound of things breaking. The witness ran outside of the hangar and saw the airplane going away from him in a level, gradual climb. The airplane began a left turn and roll. The airplane reached the top of its climb and then came straight down in a combination of a continual roll and a spin. Examination of the accident site revealed that the tops of three water birch trees, located 75 feet from the southeast edge of a ramp, on the airport's northeast side, were sheared off through the trunks, approximately 25 feet up from their bases. The outboard 4 feet of the airplane's left wing was found on the ramp, approximately 130 feet from the trees. Pieces of tree trunks, tree branches, and the airplane's left aileron fanned out from the trees in a southwesterly direction. No other anomalies were found. ## Factual narrative HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 15, 1998, at 0840 central daylight time (cdt), a Cessna 180J, N828CE, operated by an airline transport pilot, was destroyed when while maneuvering parallel to runway 31 at John F. Kennedy Airport, Ashland, Wisconsin, the airplane struck some trees. The airplane subsequently departed controlled flight and struck the terrain. A post-crash fire ensued. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. There was no flight plan on file. The pilot was fatally injured. The local flight originated at Ashland, Wisconsin, at 0812 cdt. A witness, whose house was located on a road northeast of the final approach path for runway 31, noticed a "real loud aircraft sound." She went outside to feed her horses and heard the airplane again. She thought that it might be doing touch-and-go landings. The witness said she saw the airplane from her deck. The airplane was southwest of her house, turning from a southeasterly heading, through northeast, and then west. The witness said she could see the top of the airplane in the beginning of the turn. She said that the airplane's turn was completed west of her house. The witness said that a few seconds after she went into her house, she heard a "bang" like something hitting cement, and an echo coming from the northeast. The witness thought the sound came from a neighbor's house, but realized she no longer heard the airplane. Another witness, whose house was southeast of the airport, said that he was outside at 0820 cdt when he heard an airplane which he characterized as being "loud for a small plane, extra loud." The witness said that he saw the airplane east of his house. It was "high and loud for its altitude." The witness said that he heard the airplane at least once, and possibly more times. The witness felt that the airplane was not trying to land, but just going around in circles. A corporate pilot for the Brettings Manufacturing Company of Ashland, Wisconsin, was at his hangar on the airport and saw the pilot taxi out just after 0800 cdt. The witness said that the winds at that time favored runway 31. He did not see the pilot takeoff. Later, the witness was in the hangar reception area when he heard the pilot call the Brettings hangar from his airplane and asked, "Is the coffee on?" The witness picked up the microphone and answered, "Who are you asking?" The pilot responded, "You." The witness told the pilot that the coffee was on. The pilot responded by saying, "Well then, I'll come in." The next thing the witness recalled was a loud sound of an airplane engine and then the sound of things breaking. The witness ran outside of the hangar and saw the airplane going away from him in a level, gradual climb. The airplane began a left turn and roll. The airplane reached the top of its climb and then came straight down in a combination of a continual roll and a spin. The chief pilot for Brettings Manufacturing said that he arrived at the Brettings hangar at, or just after 0800 cdt. He saw the pilot taxiing. The chief pilot turned on the radio in the hangar reception area and spoke with the pilot. The chief pilot said that he was in the hangar and could not see the pilot's airplane, but he could hear the pilot performing touch-and-go landings, and heard him announcing on the radio for runway 31. The chief pilot said that he then heard a pass followed by an impact which he characterized as sounding like metal crunching. He went to the door and saw the airplane go up and then down, heard the impact with the ground, and saw smoke. The director of maintenance for Brettings Manufacturing was in the hangar doing work on the company's Cessna Citation III jet, when he heard the airplane flying. He wasn't sure of the exact time, but felt that the airplane had been up for more than one- half hour. The director of maintenance said that he heard several passes of some kind, possibly touch-and-go landings. He then heard a high-speed pass, right by the hangar. He characterized the sound as "scary," and likened it to a high- speed airshow pass. He said that he feared that airplane might hit the Brettings hangar. The director of maintenance got up to go see the airplane. A moment later, he heard an impact noise, like an aluminum can being crushed. When he got to the window, he saw the airplane in a left bank, heading southward at about 300 feet above ground level (agl). The airplane nosed over and hit the ground. He recalled hearing the impact. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot held an Airline Transport Pilot certificate, and was employed by Northwest Airlines as a DC-9 Captain. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records and Northwest Airlines, the pilot had approximately 11,725 total flight hours. No personal pilot logbook was located. Personal fuel records showed that the pilot logged 30.3 hours in the airplane, since June 27, 1997. The pilot's last entry indicated that he flew the airplane locally on January 11, 1998. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The airplane was owned by the pilot and his wife, and used for pleasure. The airplane was manufactured in 1972. The airplane was originally registered as N9785G. On January 22, 1990, the airplane was purchased and delivered to Canada. The airplane was operated for 11 months under the Canadian registration letters C-FHHV. The airplane was purchased by the owner previous to the pilot, and delivered to the United States on November 7, 1991. A new registration certificate, dated October 29, 1991, was issued, establishing the airplane as N828CE. According to a friend and former corporate pilot associate, the pilot purchased the airplane in the summer of 1997. He said that when the pilot purchased the airplane, it had floats on it. The pilot kept the airplane at a family-owned marina, and flew it through the fall. The friend said that the pilot, who was also an airframe and powerplant mechanic, worked on the airplane all winter. "He probably had the whole thing [the airplane] apart and put back together." The friend said that the pilot had taken one of the cylinders off of the engine and had installed new control yokes. A set of aircraft logbooks were recovered from the pilot's hangar at the John F. Kennedy Airport. The last entry made in the airframe logbook was the airplane's annual inspection on November 30, 1996. The airframe time recorded at the time of the annual inspection was 2,143.0 hours. No other aircraft, engine, or propeller logbooks were found. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The NTSB on scene investigation began on April 15, 1998, at 2015 cdt. The accident site was confined to two areas on the John F. Kennedy Airport. The first area was located at the east end of the airport's main ramp, on the airport's northeast side. The tops of three water birch trees, located 75 feet from the southeast edge of an asphalt ramp, were sheared off through the trunks, approximately 25 feet up from their bases. The tree trunks were between 8 and 12 inches in diameter. The three trees were part of a small group of trees located approximately 640 feet northeast of runway 31. Several pieces of sheared tree limbs and branches fanned outward from the trees for approximately 250 feet. The pieces fell within a 40-degree arc, along a 240-degree magnetic heading, onto the ramp and into the grassy infield, between the ramp and runway 31. The outboard 4 feet of the airplane's left wing was located on the ramp, approximately 130 feet from the trees on a 257-degree magnetic heading. The wing section was crushed inward and torn in a jagged "z"-shaped pattern, beginning at the leading edge, 46 inches inboard from the wingtip, and running aft to the trailing edge along the chordline. The left aileron was broken off. A 5-inch long, triangle-shaped piece of the ## Aircraft - Registration: [N828CE](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N828CE-1998-11-23), registration cancelled 1998-11-23, S/N 18052285 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 180J - Registry model: [Cessna 180J](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-180j) (registry code 2072622) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18052285 - Engines: Continental O-470R 230 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Todd & Roberta Vickroy - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, November 30, 1996 - Departed: ASX - Airport: ASX, John F. Kennedy Airport, runway 31, 3,498 × 75 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 36; commercial, flight instructor, airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine sea, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; toxicology performed; flight hours: 11,725 total ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 360° at 9 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 2,100 ft overcast - Temperature: 34 °F, dew point 27 °F - Altimeter: 30.00 inHg - Observed at: ASX, 1 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19980415006899A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980415006899A), Apr 15, 1998: Cessna 180J, Ashland, WI, Destroyed, 1 fatal. Acft crashed on takeoff under unk circumstances, pilot suffered fatal inj, acft was destroyed by fire. (.4)a witness heard the pilot call on the radio and ask,… 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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.