- Date
- July 18, 1983, 17:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Salida, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N37ERCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830718036109A
- Case key
- 16118
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
According to the plt, he crossed ruby mountain at 9900 ft mcl. After crossing, he reportedly encountered light rain & 500 ft/min downdrafts. He stated that he flew into rotor winds & had difficultly keeping the wings level. Reportedly, there was insufficient altitude to reverse course, so he selected the only available place to land, a sloping, rocky meadow. During the landing roll, the nosewheel hit a rock & the acft went over on its top. The plt strongly emphasized that the use of shoulder harnesses prevented him & the passenger (his wife) from receiving injuries. At about the same time, another plt was giving instructions on mountain flying in a Cessna 172. He was flying aprx 15 mi south of the accident site. According to him, the air was very unstable & there were thunderstorms in the area. He reported that his climb rate never exceeded 100 ft/min, except in updrafts on the windward side of the ridges. The elevation of the crash site was aprx 8200 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N37ER
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17269534
- Airframe hours
- 4,280
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kenneth P. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 1983
- Departed
- 7V1 · Buena Vista, CO
- Destination
- APA · Englewood, 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,481 total · 331 in this make and model · 3,157 as pilot in command · 129 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 20 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.