Cessna 182 N52388 accident near Dabob, Washington

Probable cause

The non-instrument-rated pilot's decision to continue a night visual flight rules into instrument flight rules conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to obtain an official weather briefing.

NTSB analysis

The non-instrument-rated private pilot departed at night on a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight without obtaining an official weather briefing. If the pilot had received an official briefing, he would have been informed of instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions present on his route of flight. Radar data showed the airplane traveling on a heading towards its destination at varying altitudes. The pilot's communications with an air traffic controller indicated that he was trying to avoid restricted airspace, and then, when asked by the controller what his intentions were, the pilot stated that he was trying to stay out of the clouds. As the airplane made multiple 360° turns, the controller attempted to keep the airplane in controlled airspace before losing communications and radar contact with the airplane near the accident site.

Examination of the accident site indicated the airplane impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude at a high airspeed consistent with a loss of control. The attitude indicator was disassembled, and scoring was identified suggesting that the gyro rotor was spinning and, therefore, likely operational at the time of impact. There was no evidence found of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.

Based on upper air data, infrared satellite imagery, and surface observation data, the flight likely encountered precipitation, lowering ceilings, and IFR conditions around the time the airplane began to make the 360° turns. The IFR conditions encountered by the flight were conducive to spatial disorientation, and it is likely that the pilot experienced spatial disorientation and lost control of the airplane. The pilot had depression, anxiety, and insomnia, for which he was prescribed a number of potentially-impairing medications, most of which were identified during postaccident toxicology testing. However, whether these conditions or their treatment contributed to the pilot's poor decision-making in continuing a night VFR flight into IFR conditions or his susceptibility to spatial disorientation could not be determined from the available information.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR17FA044 for the full record.