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SEA92LA044

1992-02-08 · DIXON, Wyoming, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF CONTROL DUE TO THE LACK OF AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE INDICATORS AND RESULTANT PILOT SPATIAL DISORIENTATION. A FACTOR WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE WEATHER CONDITION(S).

Factual narrative

THE FLT HAD DEPARTED TUCSON, AZ, ON A SPECIAL VFR FERRY FLIGHT TO GREYBULL, WY. THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT INSTRUMENTED FOR IFR FLIGHT. WHEN THE FLT REPORTED OVER WINSLOW, IT WAS ADVISED THAT VFR FLT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED NORTHBOUND FROM ITS PRESENT POSITION. SURFACE WX CONDITIONS IN SOUTHCENTRAL WYOMING/NORTHWESTERN COLORADO AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WERE CONSISTENT WITH LOW CEILINGS, CLOUDS AND SNOW AS REPORTED BY WITNESSES AND SURFACE WX OBSERVATIONS. THE WITNESSES, LOCATED NEAR THE DIXON ARPT, REPORTED HEARING A LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT TRAVELLING W TO E, AND ANOTHER WITNESS NE OF THE ARPT HEARD AN AIRCRAFT 'REVVING' ITS ENGINES. RADAR DATA SHOWS THE AIRCRAFT TRACKING NORTHBOUND SLIGHTLY EAST OF THE DIXON ARPT, AND EXECUTING A CLOCKWISE 360 DEG TURN NE OF THE ARPT AND IN THE VICINITY OF ONE OF THE WITNESSES. THE LAST RADAR TARGET RECEIVED PLACED THE AIRCRAFT APRX 1 MI NNE OF THE ACCIDENT SITE. THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED SNOW COVERED TERRAIN IN A STEEP NOSE-DOWN ATTITUDE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_SEA92LA044.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control, spatial disorientation). All research papers