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Atlas / NTSB / DEN78FA040

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event DEN78FA040

1978-05-04 WHEATLAND, Wyoming, United States Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N320Z

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

MARK SCHOENING ZENITH CH 750 CRUZER

Year of manufacture

2021

Engine

LYCOMING O-320 SERIES (150 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20210705

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A3708F

Registrant of record

PRZESTRZELSKI JOHN M

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

BEECH D50C · N320Z

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

IMC

Phase of flight

D9

Operator type

D

Kind of flying

B2

Weather at impact

Sky

OVERCAST

Aircraft history

Serial number

0000000DH281

Total time

3,734 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial — instrument

Total hours

456

Age

37

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

N TO PILOT BEFORE TAKEOFF AND IN AIR.

Investigator remarks

PILOT REPORT OF MODERATE TO SEVERE RIME ICE GIVE

Cause factors

  • 64/A/40 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND INITIATED FLIGHT IN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 64/A/27 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS OR PLANNING Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/A/74 A
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS AIRFRAME ICE Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 82/J/F J
    WEATHER ICING CONDITIONS-INCLUDES SLEET,FREEZING RAIN,ETC. Joint cause
  • 82/J/X J
    WEATHER THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY Joint cause

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 2687. Source file NTSB_1978_3_2687.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.