Plane Crash Reports 2003

2003 Plane Crash Report Result

Title: T TIME, A CESSNA 177B, N30921, COLLIDED WITH A TREE DURING AN ATT

Report Date: 10/17

Plane Crash Problem: On October 9, 2003, approximately 1720 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 177B, N30921, collided with a tree during an attempted engine-out forced landing about five miles south of Chinook, Montana. The private pilot and one of his passengers received fatal injuries, and a second passenger received serious injuries. The aircraft, which was owned and operated by the pilot, was destroyed by a post-impact fire. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal cross-country flight, which departed Great Falls, Montana, about one hour earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation, and the ELT itself was destroyed by the fire. According to the surviving passenger, the aircraft was in cruise flight en route from Great Falls to Poplar, when the engine suddenly quit without any warning. The pilot attempted a number of times to get it restarted, but was unable to do so. As the aircraft descended, the pilot told the other occupants that he was going to land on a gravel road that he had noticed below. As the aircraft got closer to the ground, the pilot maneuvered toward the north end of a straight stretch of the road he had selected for the emergency landing. When the aircraft was about 50 feet above the ground, and nearly aligned with the road, the aircraft clipped a deciduous tree growing along the side of the road. After hitting the tree, the aircraft spiraled down into the surface of the road and slid into an adjacent ditch. Immediately after the aircraft came to a stop, a fire started in the area near the pilot's seat. At that time, the back seat passenger exited the aircraft and attempted to walk, but quickly found it necessary to crawl because she had broken her back. Soon thereafter, the aircraft was engulfed in flames and was eventually consumed by the fire.

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