- Date
- August 9, 1985, 09:25 local (15:25 UTC)
- Place
- Rawlins, WY
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N39RWRichard A. White Glasair SH-2
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850809048339A
- Case key
- 16565
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 acft crashed in a slightly nose low high velocity impact with the eng operating at low pwr by the signatures on the prop. The radar plot shows that the flight descended from aprx 15000 ft to about 10000 ft in aprx 1 minute. The acft continued to descend in a high speed high rate of descent spiral which changed to a high speed stall just prior to impact as ndicated by grnd contact marks and wreckage clues there was a broken cloud deck at aprx 4000 ft AGL. Friends of the plt do not believe that he would have consciously climbed to above 15000 ft without oxygen, leading to a conclusion of plt incapacitation prior to the climb and crash. Attempted control inputs from the wife could have altered the acft performance after PIC incapacitation. Due to the acc trauma no concusions were drawn from the plts nremains during atuopsy. The flt pattern is the main evidence of lack of plt input during the final minutes of flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39RW
- Reported as
- Richard A. White Glasair SH-2 (GLASAIR SH)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 177
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-E1A6D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard A. White
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- BFF · Scottsbluff, NE
- Destination
- CCR · Concord Buchana, CA
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 320° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RWL, 22 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.