- Date
- May 16, 1992, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- S.Lake Tahoe, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2031GCessna 182A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920516015149A
- Case key
- 27620
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
That the pilot-in-command used poor judgment by flying at an unwarranted low altitude and misjudged the clearance between the tree tops and the airplane.
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 pilots took off from their home airport for a local flight. When they failed to return friends initiated a night aerial and ground search for the aircraft. The aircraft's ELT signal was received and the ground search team was guided to the wreckage that was located in a remote dense forest. According to members of the search team the aircraft appeared to have struck a tree top north of the main wreckage area and nosed into the ground. The aircraft came to rest in a nose down, tail up attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2031G
- Reported as
- Cessna 182A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 51331
- Engine
- Continental O-470-L, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Elliot, Carl D.
- Registered owner
- Elliot, Carl D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 20, 1992
- Departed
- O03 · San Andreas, CA
- Destination
- O03
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 850 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Observed at
- TVL, 32 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.