NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN84FA307
Registry · N4699W
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
CESSNA 182R
Year of manufacture
1981 · 3 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19811216
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5BEB2
Registrant of record
N4699W LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE PILOT HAD FILED AN IFR CLEARANCE. WHILE TAXIING TO TAKEOFF, HE REQUESTED AND RECEIVED A CLEARANCE TO CLIMB VFR ON COURSE, VIA VICTOR AIRWAY 2, WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO REPORT WHEN REACHING 10,000' MSL. THIS WAS THE LAST COMMUNICATION RECEIVED FROM THE PILOT. WHEN THE AIRCRAFT DID NOT ARRIVE AT ITS DESTINATION, A SEARCH WAS INITIATED; HOWEVER, THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT FOUND UNTIL 11/28/87, WHEN IT WAS DISCOVERED BY A HUNTER. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE AIRCRAFT HAD CRASHED IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN ABOUT 14 MILES WEST OF MISSOULA, MT & 8 MILES SOUTH OF THE AIRWAY, WHILE IN A STEEP DESCENT. IMPACT OCCURRED AT AN ELEVATION OF ABOUT 6400'. NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL FAILURE WAS FOUND. THE 1352 MST WEATHER AT MISSOULA WAS IN PART: 3000' SCATTERED, 4500' BROKEN, WITH MOUNTAINS PARTIALLY OBSCURRED IN CLOUDS AND ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS. AN AIRMET WARNED OF OCCASIONAL MODERATE RIME ICE IN CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION ABOVE THE FREEZING LEVEL TO 15,000' AND OCCASIONAL MODERATE TURBULENCE BELOW 16,000'. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1984_DEN84FA307.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗