- Date
- September 1, 1983, 18:04 local (Sep 2, 1983, 00:04 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Junction, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8739TCessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830901064779A
- Case key
- 16151
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
The CFI stated that while practicing emergency landings, smoke started billowing into the cockpit. She also noticed a lot of heat near her legs. Thinking that there might be a fire on the other side of the firewall, the CFI decided to land in a corn field. The corn was 12 ft tall & the acft nosed over on its back. The only evidence of smoke, heat or fire was that the wire lead from the electrical bus bar to a radio was burned & melted at the end, as was the jumper wire between the bus bars. A shopowner at the arpt stated that the jumper wire was undersized & became overloaded causing the insulation to burn. The cabin heater valve was found positioned to the on position which would allow engine heat to enter the cockpit near the floor level.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8739T
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 52639
- Airframe hours
- 243
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Larry Moore
- Registered owner
- Herrmann, Mondis L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 1983 · 20 hours before
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
- 26
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 878 total · 45 in this make and model · 739 as pilot in command · 332 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GJT, 8 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.