Cessna 172 accident near Billings, MT
On October 31, 2020, a Cessna 172 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Billings, MT. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 31, 2020
- Place
- Billings, MT
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 45.811°N, 108.523°W
- NTSB ID
- 20201031102218
Official records · WPR21LA032
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- FAA Accident Package ATC Transcript Excerpt: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn October 30, 2020, about 1905 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Cessna 172M airplane, N124TW, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Billings, Montana. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 cross-country flight. The pilot departed at 0739 central daylight time earlier in the day from the Dallas, Texas area and had flown four legs under visual flight rules before departing on the accident flight leg about 1652 MDT from Sheridan County Airport, Sheridan, Wyoming. According to air traffic control, the pilot reported windshear and turbulence and had difficulties continuing the flight at night with strong headwinds. The pilot also reported that he was not able to climb to an altitude to safely navigate mountainous terrain and needed to divert to Billings Logan International Airport (BIL), Billings, Montana. The pilot turned right and continued to BIL where he was instructed to land on runway 28R. As the pilot was approaching BIL, he was asked by the tower controller if he would like runway 25 because it was more aligned with the wind, to which the pilot agreed. As the pilot approached the airport, he advised, “I’m having trouble making out the airport from the rest of the flashing lights.” The controller gave the pilot a position report and the pilot reported that he thought he had the airport in sight. The controller advised the pilot to maneuver as necessary and to maintain an altitude of 4,500 ft mean sea level (msl) or higher. After some maneuvering, the pilot re
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain the proper descent glide path while on final approach for reasons that could not be determined from available evidence.
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.
