- Date
- March 30, 1982, 09:05 local (16:05 UTC)
- Place
- Montrose, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2809KCessna 180K
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820330009079A
- Case key
- 71761
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
During flight over mountainous terrain, the pilot encountered "horizontal snow squalls." He reported that he flew through the snow squall for about 25 miles while maintaining ground contact. He approached a cloud layer, but was able to fly over it at 16,500 ft MSL. As he continued, the engine began running rough. With the temperature at -15 deg fahrenheit (below yellow arc on carb air temp gauge), he was reluctant to use the carb heat. After switching tanks and mags with no improvement, he applied full carb heat. However, the engine continued to run rough and finally stopped. He entered the clouds, and with no vacuum suction, descended using needle, ball and airspeed. He turned into the wind to reduce the ground speed, and at about 10,000 ft, the aircraft crashed and came to rest in trees. The ELT operated, but the antenna was broken. The pilot made a shelter, remained overnight and was rescued on the following afternoon. No engine problem was found except the plastic foam induction air filter contained water when checked.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2809K
- Reported as
- Cessna 180K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18053080
- Airframe hours
- 366
- Engine
- Continental O-470-4, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William Smith
- Registered owner
- William Smith
- Departed
- Taos, NM
- Destination
- Aspen, CO
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 5,254 total · 368 in this make and model · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 30 knots
- Temperature
- 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.