DEN90FA100

1990-04-25 · CEDAR CITY, Utah, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CDC

Aircraft involved

N18PP Piper PA31-325 Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN A MINIMUM SAFE ALTITUDE OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN DURING A NIGHT VFR APPROACH FOR LANDING.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED TO ATC THAT HE INTENDED TO MAKE AN UNSCHEDULED FUEL STOP. ATC ADVISED THAT CEDAR CITY AIRPORT WAS FIFTEEN MINUTES AWAY. RADAR VECTORS WERE REQUESTED AND WERE ISSUED. ALTHOUGH DARK NIGHT CONDITIONS EXISTED AND THE PILOT CONTROLLED AIRPORT LIGHTING WAS NEVER ACTIVATED, THE PILOT REPORTED THE AIRPORT IN SIGHT AND WAS CLEARED FOR A VISUAL APPROACH. THREE MINUTES LATER RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST. IMPACT OCCURRED IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AT 9,100 FEET ELEVATION ABOUT SIX MILES EAST OF THE 5,622 FOOT ELEVATION AIRPORT. MINIMUM SAFE ALTITUDE WAS 12,400 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90FA100.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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