- Date
- September 7, 2003, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pine Haven, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6384BCessna 182A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Casper FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030907022469A
- Case key
- 57897
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 loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. The lack of suitable terrain is a contributing factor.
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
According to the pilot, he completed an air drop of skydivers and was returning to land. During the final approach, he added power to maintain altitude and obstacle clearance, and the engine "quit without sputter[ing]." He made a forced landing in a sagebrush covered field. The airplane struck the ground, slid down a gully, and struck a tree. The impact separated the airplane's nose landing gear, displaced the engine and engine mount, and buckled the aft fuselage and firewall. The pilot stated that after pulling the airplane from the gully, he visually checked the fuel and identified that there were 10 gallons of fuel in each wing-tank. At the time of the accident, the temperature was 31 degrees C., and the dew point was 7 degrees C.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 2003, at 1400 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182A, N6384B, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during a forced landing near Pine Haven, Wyoming. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for this local flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at 1335 from a private airstrip near Pine Haven.
According to the pilot, he completed an air drop of skydivers and was returning to land on runway 18. During the final approach, he added power to maintain altitude and obstacle clearance, and the engine "quit without sputter[ing]." He made a forced landing in a sagebrush covered field. The airplane struck the ground, slid down a gully, and nosed down as it struck a tree. The impact separated the airplane's nose landing gear, displaced the engine and engine mount, and buckled the aft fuselage and firewall.
The pilot stated that after pulling the airplane from the gully, he visually checked the fuel and stated that there were 10 gallons of fuel in each wing tank. He also stated that he "did not know the cause of the engine failure."
At 1355, the reported weather at Gillette-Campbell County Airport (GCC), Gillette, Wyoming (approximately 32 nautical miles west of the accident site, and at an elevation of 4,363 feel msl) was: wind, 230 degrees at 15 knots, gusting to 19 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles; sky condition, few at 10,000 feet; temperature, 31 degrees C.; dew point, 7 degrees C.; altimeter setting, 30.01. The calculated density altitude was 7,204 feet msl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6384B
- Reported as
- Cessna 182A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34284
- Airframe hours
- 4,202
- Engine
- Continental O470, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bob Suchor
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 30, 2002 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Pine Haven, WY
- Destination
- PVT · Pine Haven, WY
- Airport
- PVT · Keyhole
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
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- October 22, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,844 total · 39 in this make and model · 1,063 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 15 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KGCC, 32 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.