- Date
- January 12, 1996, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Grantsville, UT
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N91130Cessna 182
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960112000629A
- Case key
- 42323
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 failure of the #5 exhaust valve rocker boss, and the subsequent sticking of the exhaust valve in the closed position. Factors include wet, soft terrain in the only available landing area.
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
While maneuvering over the Great Salt Lake, the aircraft's engine experienced a substantial loss of power. At the rate the aircraft was descending, the only land the pilot could reach was Carrington Island. He made an emergency landing on the shore of the island, and the aircraft nosed over on the soft, muddy terrain. Examination of the engine revealed that the #5 exhaust valve rocker boss had failed, resulting in the valve remaining in the closed position.
Factual narrative
On January 12, 1996, approximately 1300 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182, N91130, nosed over during an emergency landing on the shore of Carrington Island, in the Great Salt Lake, Utah. The commercial pilot and his two passengers were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The local 14 CFR Part 91 shrimp spotting flight, which departed Salt Lake City International Airport about 30 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, the aircraft's engine began making excessive noise and it lost a substantial amount of power. Because Carrington Island was the only land he could reach at the rate the aircraft was descending, he elected to make an emergency landing on the shore of the island. After a successful touchdown, the aircraft sank into the muddy terrain during the landing roll and flipped over.
Inspection of the engine revealed that the exhaust valve rocker boss for the number 5 cylinder had broken off, resulting in the exhaust valve remaining in the closed position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N91130
- Reported as
- Cessna 182
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18261955
- Airframe hours
- 2,645
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R-25A, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Golden West Artemia
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 8, 1995 · 307 hours before
- Departed
- SLC · Salt Lake City, 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
- 36
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,299 total · 315 in this make and model · 4,132 as pilot in command · 245 in the last 90 days · 58 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.