Cessna 180 accident near Oxford, AL
On April 10, 2003, a Cessna 180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Oxford, AL. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 10, 2003
- Place
- Oxford, AL
- Aircraft
- Cessna 180 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.458°N, 85.808°W
- NTSB ID
- 20030416X00524
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 10, 2003, approximately 1700 central daylight time (CST), a Cessna 180, N3166D, registered to Blue Water Aircraft Corporation, and operated by a private pilot, collided with trees in the Cheaha State Park, Oxford, Alabama. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 and visual flight rules. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the pilot and student pilot rated passenger were fatally injured. The flight departed Thomasville, Georgia on April 10, 2003 approximately 1530 eastern daylight time (EST). At 1434 EST, the pilot telephone the Macon Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) to get a weather briefing on the weather conditions from Thomasville, Georgia, to Detroit, Michigan. The pilot informed Macon flight service that he was aware of the "swirling mess" and wondered how far west he would have to fly in order to avoid it. He was advised that he would have to fly to western Tennessee to avoid the instrument precaution advisories. Due to the current weather conditions, the pilot reported that he would fly to Gadsden, Alabama and spend the night, and continue to Detroit the following day. At 1438 EST, the Macon AFSS advised the pilot that the lowest cloud conditions between Thomasville, Georgia, and Gadsden, Alabama, were twelve hundred feet, and that the observation was twenty-three minutes old. The current observation showed that the weather conditions were beginning to deteriorate and that the ceiling dropped two hundred feet.
Probable cause
The pilot's continued VFR flight into IMC conditions and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance. A factor was low ceilings.
More accidents in AL
- Beech C99, Jul 10, 1991
- Cessna 421A, Jun 22, 1983
- Cessna 421C, Jul 9, 2011
- Piper PA 31, Aug 14, 2016
- Beech 95-B55B, Dec 5, 1992
Browse: Alabama · 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.
