- Date
- October 26, 1982, 19:29 local (Oct 27, 1982, 01:29 UTC)
- Place
- Mack, CO
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5803RCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report October 26, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19821026057839A
- Case key
- 69632
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
While on a flt from evanston, WY to glenwood, CO, the plt encountered "cloud to ground" conditins & diverted toward grand junction, CO. He stated that due to a nav problem, he radioed grand junction tower to verify his position. Grand junction had no radar & was having difficulty trying to get a fix on the acft. Therefore, they contacted denver center (den ctr). Den ctr established radar contact at 1849 MDT. The tower informed the plt of his position aprx 40 mi northwest & provided a freq to contact den ctr. However, a short time later, the plt reported he was unable to contact den ctr. Shortly after that, he stated he was losing ground contact. For the next 35 min, tower & ctr made every possible effort to help orient the pilot & vector him to grand junction. The plt was unable to maintain a heading or an assigned altitude. Subsequently, the plane crashed in mountainous terrain. During an investigation, the nav receiver was found on 117.4 mhz, the grand junction VOR freq was 112.4 mhz.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5803R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17253472
- Airframe hours
- 6,670
- Engine
- Continental O-300D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Sun Flying Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Sun Flying Service, Inc.
- Departed
- EVW · Evanston, WY
- Destination
- GWS · Glenwood Spring, 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 168 total · 156 in this make and model · 104 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 160° at 12 knots
- Temperature
- 136 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GJT, 34 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.