- Date
- January 9, 1991, 01:00 local (06:00 UTC)
- Place
- La Belle, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N69UUCessna 182N
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910109000289A
- Case key
- 32810
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 failure to maintain altitude. A factor was the pilot's failure to obtain a weather forecast.
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 did not obtain a wx briefing for a night cross country flt. His charts & airport facility directory (afd) were in his briefcse in the back seat. The flt departed & about 8 miles west of the departure arpt, encountered fog. The plt became disoriented & lost. He obtained the afd, entered the coordinates into his loran receiver; which indicated the acft was 26 miles southeast. He initiated a turn to return & while calling his instructor via a portable telephone to obtain current wx conditions, 'lost track of altitude, misread altimiter'. The acft collided with trees. The acft caught fire while he was attempting to recover his briefcase. The plt stated there was no engine malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69UU
- Reported as
- Cessna 182N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18260670
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Smith, Gregory H.
- Registered owner
- Smith, Gregory H.
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- 8X6 · Lake Placid, FL
- Destination
- X06 · Arcadia, FL
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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 145 total · 90 in this make and model · 110 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 50° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RSW, 21 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.