Undetermined · NTSB CEN16FA373
CESSNA 182 — Ephraim, WI
| Date | September 19, 2016 |
| Location | Ephraim, WI |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 182 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Approach-VFR pattern base Course deviation |
| Pilot age | 69 |
| Pilot total time | 920 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | 300 hrs |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action selection-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Decision related to condition - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Effect on operation - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
The private pilot was flying a passenger, who was a student pilot, home after her completion of a lesson with a flight instructor. During the night arrival to a nontowered airport, the pilot descended to about 150 ft above the ground on an extended right base to the runway. He subsequently flew across the runway's final approach course and began a left turn away from the runway, which continued for about 300° until impact with 50-ft-tall trees.
Although adequate visibility and moon illumination existed for a night visual approach, the runway's final approach was over an unpopulated state park surrounded by water on three sides with little cultural lighting. The lack of visual cues over this dark area likely contributed to the pilot perceiving his altitude to be higher than it was. Additionally, when the pilot turned left toward the dark area, he turned the airplane away from the runway's visual glideslope indicator, which could have provided the pilot with information about his height above the terrain. Further, the low altitude at which the pilot approached the airport and subsequently initiated his maneuvering to align with the runway did not allow for any imprecision in altitude control.
It is unlikely that the pilot's diabetes, high blood pressure, or medications used to treat these conditions impaired the pilot or contributed to the accident. Additionally, there is no evidence the pilot's coronary artery disease or bilateral cataracts impaired the pilot or contributed to the accident.