- Date
- November 14, 2020, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Howe, ID · East face of Saddle Mountain
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8278BCessna 172
- Defining event
- Enroute-climb to cruise: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20201114018059A
- Case key
- 102297
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 clearance from mountainous terrain after an encounter with a downdraft, which resulted in a collision with terrain.
Findings · 5
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 he was maneuvering the airplane from the south to the north on the leeward side of a ridgeline when the airplane encountered a downdraft and suddenly lost altitude. He turned the airplane to the west, then to the east in an attempt to regain altitude, but the airplane continued to descend and collided with terrain. The fuselage and both wings sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8278B
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36078
- Built
- 1957
- Airframe hours
- 3,741
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jacob Rothgeb
- Registered owner
- Jacob Rothgeb
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2020 · 17.2 hours before
- Departed
- 1U2 · Mud Lake, ID
- Equipment
- None
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
- 25
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 23.1 total · 12.3 in this make and model · 15.5 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft
- Temperature
- 32 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 20, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.7 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.