- Date
- August 20, 2013, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Meeteetse, WY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N516MACessna 172E
- Defining event
- Enroute-climb to cruise: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 19, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 87827
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 student pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to maintain clearance from rising terrain, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of situational awareness.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot reported that while on a solo cross-country flight she was using dead reckoning through the mountains. The pilot was unsure of her location and as she proceeded to the west, the mountainous terrain became steeper, which required her to ascend from 7,500 feet mean sea level (msl) to 8,500 feet msl. The student stated that being unable to clear the rising terrain in her flight path and unable to turn the airplane around, she elected to make a landing. During the approach a gust of wind hit the right wing, which resulted in the nose landing gear impacting the rocky terrain. The airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The student pilot reported that while on a solo cross-country flight she was using dead reckoning through the mountains. The pilot was unsure of her location and as she proceeded to the west, the mountainous terrain became steeper, which required her to ascend from 7,500 feet mean sea level (msl) to 8,500 feet msl. The student stated that being unable to clear the rising terrain in her flight path and unable to turn the airplane around, she elected to make a landing. During the approach a gust of wind hit the right wing, which resulted in the nose landing gear impacting the rocky terrain. The airplane nosed over and sustained substantial damage to both wings and the empennage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N516MA
- Reported as
- Cessna 172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R172-0174
- Airframe hours
- 7,492
- Engine
- Continental Motors IO-360, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 21, 2013 · 33 hours before
- Departed
- GEY · Greybull, WY
- Destination
- 5U7 · Fort Smith, MT
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 17
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 42 total · 35 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- COD, 43 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 9.5 MB in all.