- Date
- November 22, 1992, 18:25 local (Nov 23, 1992, 01:25 UTC)
- Place
- Cedar City, UT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N5108SPiper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921122047619A
- Case key
- 42926
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Clearance from mountainous terrain was not maintained. Factors to the accident were: dark night condition, snow showers, and intentional flight into known adverse weather.
Analysis
During a cross country flight at night and in snowing conditions, the airplane collided with mountainous terrain. Shortly after the flight had taken off, the pilot made contact with the fss for a weather update. The specialist informed the pilot that VFR flight was not recommended due to the weather conditions. The pilot opted to continue the flight informing the specialist that he would make contact when the flight was closer. As the flight was nearing the airport, the pilot had tried three times to contact the fss without success. It was later found that the specialist was not monitoring all of the frequencies. The airplane was found in a valley in mountainous terrain. There was no evidence found of a mechanical failure or malfunction.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5108S
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7135109
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jewett, Gordon E.
- Registered owner
- Jewett, Gordon E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 8, 1992
- Departed
- SGU · St. George, UT
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
- 47
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,498 total · 4,459 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 10° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,400 ft overcast
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CDC, 9 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.