Cessna 177RG N53120 accident near Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while flying an instrument approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in actual instrument conditions.

NTSB analysis

The pilot's original destination was below weather minimums so he diverted to another airport. He flew the approach to runway 9 with one receiver/navigational unit tuned to the global positioning system (GPS) approach and one tuned to the instrument landing system (ILS) approach. He reported that he began getting conflicting information between the GPSs so he executed a missed approach. The pilot reported that during the second approach he had trouble maintaining the glideslope and he had to keep adding power to maintain a proper descent rate. He then received erratic information and needle oscillations on both glideslope indicators. The pilot stated that he was at full power, so he did not have additional power in order to climb for a missed approach. The pilot believes that the left wing stalled about 600 feet above the ground. He stated that he was in “some kind of spin” or unusual attitude with the “nose slightly downward and tilted slightly to the left.” The pilot reported that the last memory he has prior to impact was pulling up. The airplane impacted the terrain in an open field, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. Radar data indicated that from the time the airplane was established on the approach up until the last minute of data available, the aircraft’s ground track varied from 97 degrees to 70 degrees, with a descent rate of approximately 500 feet per minute. The airplane’s rate of descent during the last 46 seconds of radar data increased to about 800 feet per minute and the heading changed from 95 degrees to 119 degrees, then to 13 degrees. The approaches were checked after the accident with no anomalies found. The pilot received his instrument rating two weeks prior to the accident. He reported having about 5 hours of actual instrument flight time and about 72 hours of simulated instrument flight time.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN10LA103 for the full record.