Cessna A185F accident near Howard, CO
On September 4, 2002, a Cessna A185F (airplane) was involved in an accident near Howard, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 4, 2002
- Place
- Howard, CO
- Aircraft
- Cessna A185F · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 38.394°N, 105.937°W
- NTSB ID
- 20020911X01588
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT September 4, 2002, at 0656 mountain daylight time, a Cessna A185F, N24GS, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while maneuvering near Howard, Colorado. The commercial pilot was fatally injured, and his passenger was seriously injured. The State of Colorado's Division of Wildlife (DOW), was operating the airplane under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial fish stocking flight which originated approximately 20 minutes before the accident. No flight plan had been filed. DOW employees said that the pilot was scheduled to do an aerial fish drop in Hunt Lake (elevation 11,300 feet). He departed Salida, Colorado (elevation 7,489 feet), with a fish hatchery employee as an operations observer. Flight data retrieved from an onboard GPS unit indicates that the airplane flew directly towards the lake and circled two times over Howard, Colorado, while gaining altitude. At 0652:30, the airplane was at 11,429 feet, and on a 250 degree true heading. At 0655:16, the airplane was on a 245 degree true heading and descending at approximately 360 feet per minute. The airplane impacted a ridge, approximately 90 degrees to its left, 5 to 10 seconds later. The last GPS location was approximately 350 feet from the impact site, and approximately 100 feet above it. The injured passenger said that he remembered the flight towards Hunt Lake, but his last recollection was "Jim [the pilot] was pulling back real hard on the steering wheel." He said that when he regained consciousness he smelled fuel vapors, and he exited the airplane. An
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain clearance of the terrain. Contributing factors were the clear air turbulent weather condition, and the high density altitude condition.
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Browse: Colorado · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
