Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Casper, Wyoming 82601
Friday, May 17, 2002 2:38 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot, on a flight from Watkins, Colorado, to Thermopolis, Wyoming, diverted and landed at Casper, Wyoming, because of stormy weather along his route of flight. According to the pilot's wife, about 0030 the pilot determined that he would wait at Casper until sunrise, but was going to stop at the Flight Service Station and see what they had to say. About 0400, the pilot's wife received a call from Flight Service asking if the pilot had gotten home and forgot to close his flight plan. She told them that he wasn't there but would check and see if he had landed at the Thermopolis Airport. Flight Service told her that the pilot waited at their office until 0230 when the weather began to clear up. He left after that. At 0600, the pilot's wife contacted Flight Service and informed them that her husband was not at Thermopolis. Search and rescue was initiated. The airplane was found at 0730. It had impacted rolling terrain 15 miles west-northwest of Casper and was destroyed. At 0203, the reported weather at Casper was scattered clouds at 1,100 feet, ceiling 2,000 feet overcast, visibility 10 statute miles, temperature 43 degrees F, dew point 39 degrees F, winds 360 degrees at 6 knots, and an altimeter setting of 30.20 inches of Mercury. Civil Air Patrol personnel and local sheriff's deputies, reported dense fog in the Casper area during the early morning hours. The pilot did not have an instrument rating. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions and his subsequent failure to maintain aircraft control. A factor contributing to this accident was the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 238 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Casper |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82601 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425908N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1064455W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 203 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5348 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5279 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12742 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 4:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Casper, Wyoming FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1211D |
| NTSB Number | DEN02FA043 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 170A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20112 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Jan 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2587.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Walter Vern Urbigkit |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. Box 1368 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Thermopolis |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82443 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | CPR |
| Departure City | Casper |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 228 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | THP |
| Destination City | Thermopolis |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2002 12:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |