Cessna TR182 accident near Billings, MT
On January 12, 2020, a Cessna TR182 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Billings, MT. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 12, 2020
- Place
- Billings, MT
- Aircraft
- Cessna TR182 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 46.233°N, 108.365°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200112X30726
Official records · WPR20FA063
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn January 11, 2020, at 1801 mountain standard time, a Cessna TR182 airplane, N736YU, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Billings, Montana. The pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 instructional flight. The pilot’s wife reported that her husband planned to fly about 1630 and was expected to return to his home about 1730. According to Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data, following its departure from Billings Logan International Airport (BIL), Billings, Montana, the airplane landed at Big Horn County Airport (00U), Hardin, Montana about 1715 and subsequently departed about 1740. Flight data retrieved from a multi-function display (MFD) on the airplane showed that the airplane began an immediate climb after it departed 00U and established its cruise altitude, about 4,796 ft msl at 1747:43 and maintained a similar altitude and a height above terrain (between 1,400 and 2,100 ft agl) for the remainder of the flight. According to ADS-B data, the airplane then flew a straight track northwest towards Roundup, Montana (about 269° magnetic) until about 1753:53 when the airplane made a slight left turn to 257° and continued along this heading for the remainder of the recording. MFD data showed rising terrain about 40 seconds before the airplane crashed. The airplane was at an altitude of 4,954 ft msl (35 ft agl) when the data ended at 1801:22 about 1/2 nautical mile from the airplane’s initial impact point. The pilot’s wife contacted loc
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance due to poor decision making in selecting an unsafe altitude during cruise flight.
More accidents in MT
- Pilatus PC-12/45, Mar 22, 2009
- Beech D18S, Jul 5, 1987
- Cessna 550, Dec 18, 1992
- Beech V35B, Jun 24, 1982
- Cessna 182C, May 12, 2007
Browse: Montana · 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.
