Cessna R182 N182GT accident near Dougherty, Texas

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper decision to continue flight into known adverse weather conditions resulting in his inability to maintain aircraft control after penetrating the thunderstorm gust front. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of preflight planning, failure to obtain a weather briefing, and the severe to extreme turbulence, blowing dust which produced brownout conditions associated with thunderstorm activity.

NTSB analysis

Radar data provided for the last portion of the accident flight depicted the airplane changing heading and altitude on several occasions. The airplane impacted an open field in a nose low attitude and was fragmented on impact. An examination of the airframe, engine, and airplane systems revealed no pre-impact anomalies. Weather information for the time of the accident depicted an area of light precipitation, consistent with the outflow boundary from a thunderstorm in the immediate vicinity of the accident location, at the time of the accident. Convective SIGMETS, METAR observations, and witness reports illustrated thunderstorm activity, brownout conditions, a dust storm, and the possibility of severe to extreme turbulence at the time of the accident. There was no record that the pilot had obtained a formal weather briefing from a recorded source. The pilot’s flight logbook was located within the wreckage. A review of the logbook indicated that the pilot had logged no less than 412 hours; 45.5 hours in the make and model of the accident airplane, 17.7 hours at night, and 4.6 hours in simulated instrument meteorological conditions.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN09FA369 for the full record.