Cessna 525 accident near Cedar Fort, UT
On January 18, 2016, a Cessna 525 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Cedar Fort, UT. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 18, 2016
- Place
- Cedar Fort, UT
- Aircraft
- Cessna 525 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.314°N, 112.081°W
- NTSB ID
- 20160118X53003
Official records · WPR16FA054
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Transcription: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
On January 18, 2016, about 1000 mountain standard time, a Cessna 525, N711BX, was destroyed following a loss of control and in-flight breakup while maneuvering at altitude near Cedar Fork, Utah. The airline transport pilot and his sole passenger sustained fatal injuries. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the area, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the personal cross-country flight, which was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Salt Lake City, Utah, about 0950, with an intended destination of Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona. According to air traffic control voice communication and radar information, the pilot contacted the SLC departure controller at 0951:59 and reported that he was climbing through 7,500 ft mean sea level (msl) for 10,000 ft (all altitudes are expressed as msl unless otherwise noted). The controller then cleared the pilot to climb to and maintain Flight Level 230 (FL230), and to delete speed restrictions; the pilot confirmed the clearance. At 0952:21, the controller instructed the pilot to maintain 14,000 ft, to delete all speed restrictions, and asked him what speed he was climbing at; the pilot confirmed the clearance and stated that he was climbing at 200 knots (kts). At 0955:01, while approaching 14,000 ft the pilot reported that he had a failure with his Flight Management System (FMS), that he was "switching to NAV for a second," and would be exceeding the assigned altitude. This was follo
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation while operating in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's design stress limitations, and a subsequent in-flight breakup. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's reported inflight instrumentation anomaly, the origin of which could not be determined during the investigation.
More accidents in UT
- Beech A100, Aug 22, 2008
- Swearingen SA-226TC, Jan 15, 1987
- Beech 65-A90, Jan 15, 2001
- Cessna T210L, May 7, 1995
- Gulfstream 690D, May 7, 1986
Browse: Utah · 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.
