- Date
- March 24, 1990, 19:22 local (Mar 25, 1990, 02:22 UTC)
- Place
- Colorado Spring, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N19948Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900324005219A
- Case key
- 17907
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to initiate flight into known adverse weather, and his in-flight planning/decison. Factors related to the accident were: the adverse weather conditions, and the accumulation of airframe ice.
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 plt & his wife were en route from mt vernon, OH, to Colorado springs, CO. They landed at mccook, NE, for fuel & an updated wx briefing. The plt was told MVFR existed at the destn, but it was forecast to clr at his ETA. He depd mccook without a flt plan. He said he enctrd 'ice in clear skies' & landed at akron, CO. After a 1.5 hr wait, he depd akron at 1740 MST with 27.2 gal of fuel on board. He enctrd IMC & airframe ice near Colorado springs & declared an emerg. Apch control vectored him for an ILS rwy 35 apch. The 1st apch was missed due to ice on the windshield, but the plt saw the rwy on the 2nd apch. When over the rwy & about to flare, he reduced power. With the extra weight &loss of lift (due to ice accumulation), the acft dropped & landed hard. The plt was not instrument rated, but had taken the written instrument test & was ready for the flt test. The 1920 MST wx was in part: 200' ovc, 1/4 vis with fog, wind from 150 deg at 6 KTS. Min RVR for the apch was 2400'.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N19948
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17260878
- Airframe hours
- 1,034
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gary J. Durbin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 3, 1990 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- AKO · Akron, CO
- Destination
- COS
- Airport
- COS · City Of Co Springs Muni, runway 35, 11,021 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 324 total · 302 in this make and model · 283 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 21 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- COS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.