Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cheyenne Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001
Thursday, April 11, 1996 8:24 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A 7 year old trainee (passenger), accompanied by her father (a passenger) and the pilot-in-command (PIC), were engaged in a trans-continental record attempt involving 6,660 miles of flying in 8 consecutive days. The 1st leg of the trip (about 8 hours of flying) had been accomplished the previous day and began/ended with considerable media attention. On the morning of the 2nd day, the PIC and the trainee participated in media interviews, pre-flighted, and then loaded the airplane. The PIC then received a weather briefing and was advised of moderate icing conditions, turbulence, IFR flight precautions, and a cold front in the area of the departure airport. The airplane was taxied in rain to takeoff on runway 30. While taxiing, the PIC acknowledged receiving information that the wind was from 280 degrees at 20 gusting 30 knots and that a departing Cessna 414 pilot reported moderate low-level windshear of +/- 15 knots. The airplane then departed on runway 30 towards a nearby thunderstorm and began a gradual turn to an easterly heading. Witnesses described the airplane's climb rate and speed as slow, and they observed the airplane enter a roll and descent that was consistent with a stall. Density altitude at the airport was 6,670 feet. The airplane's gross weight was calculated to be 84 pounds over the maximum limit at the time of the impact. (See: NTSB/AAR-97/02 for detailed info)
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot-in-command's improper decision to take off into deteriorating weather conditions (including turbulence, gusty winds, and an advancing thunderstorm and associated precipitation) when the airplane was overweight and when the density altitude was higher than he was accustomed to, resulting in a stall caused by failure to maintain airspeed. Contributing to the pilot-in-command's decision to take off was a desire to adhere to an overly ambitious itinerary, in part, because of media commitments.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/11/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 824 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHEYENNE |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82001 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CHEYENNE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CYS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 322 |
| Airport Elevation | 6156 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 823 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6156 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 28 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6670 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1514 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 11 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 758 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N35207 |
| NTSB Number | SEA96MA079 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 177B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 177B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17702266 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 8 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 3582 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REID, JOSEPH, M. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 323 MIRAMONES |
| Aircraft Owner City | HALF MOON BAY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94019 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CYS |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 822 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LNK |
| Destination City | LINCOLN |
| Destination State | NB |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30 |
| Runway Length | 6691 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |