Cessna 182C N8721T accident near Circle, Montana

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control as a result of spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight into low visibility conditions.

NTSB analysis

The pilot departed the private airstrip in visual flight rules conditions and proceeded south for 27 miles toward a small town. While near the town, he made a mobile phone call to a family member and reported that there was fog near the river (along his route of flight) but that it was clear on the other side. The mobile phone connection then dropped, and the pilot made no further communications. The airplane wreckage was located 22 miles south of the town where the pilot made the phone call.

Examination of the airplane wreckage revealed damage and ground scars consistent with a high-energy vertical impact, and no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures was found that would have precluded normal operation. The local meteorological observations and satellite imagery indicated that the airplane likely encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), low clouds, and restricted visibility throughout the area about the time of the accident. The pilot had recently received his private pilot certificate, had accumulated 93 hours of total flight time, and did not hold an airplane instrument rating. The IMC combined with the pilot's lack of instrument flight experience likely led to his becoming spatially disoriented, which resulted in the loss of airplane control.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR13FA183 for the full record.