- Date
- March 26, 1988, 20:30 local (Mar 27, 1988, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ashland, OR
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2958DCessna 170
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 40795
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
During a dark night VFR flight, the acft encountered a severe downdraft and instrument meteorological conditions. With full power the acft descended, striking trees before it struck the ground. During the pilot's preflight briefing and in-flight briefing he was told that flight precautions were present because of icing, turbulence, mountain obscurations, and IFR conditions. In a post acc statement the plt said he was descending from 8000 ft MSL to land at medford or for refueling when he encountered a strong downdraft. This descent continued until about 2000 ft AGL at an airspeed of 50 mph. Due to low airspeed and turbulence the plt decided against trying a 180 degree turn. IMC wx conditions were encountered in the form of fog and snow. The plt turned from 310 degrees to 300 degrees and began a climb. At aprx 6100 ft MSL another downdraft was encountered and the acft descended at about 60 mph until trees was contacted at aprx 5100 ft. the wings and top of the acft were torn off but the 2 occupants survived.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2958D
- Reported as
- Cessna 170
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20750
- Airframe hours
- 4,111
- Engine
- Lycoming O-300-D, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mark D. Mueller
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 1987 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- SAC · Sacramento, CA
- Destination
- MFR · Medford, OR
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
- 41
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,353 total · 10 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 330° at 30 knots, gusting 40
- Temperature
- 30 °F
Other investigations on N2958D · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.