At 14:20 Pacific time, a Canadian-registered Cessna U206G struck trees five miles east/northeast of Mica. The pilot was killed. IMC prevailed and the flight was on a VFR flight plan from Renton, Wash., to Spokane and then on to Calgary, Alberta. The pilot contacted Spokane Approach at 13:51 and reported his position as 15 miles south of Spokane, tracking inbound on a 006 degree magnetic heading at 2,700 feet. He requested the weather and vectors to land and, when asked to squawk 0345, advised he was experiencing some transponder trouble. The aircraft was not radar identified. Less than 10 minutes later the pilot radioed that he would head toward Coeur DAlene, Idaho, or seek a small airport to the south. Later he advised Spokane Approach that he was heading 020 degrees to Coeur DAlene and was 22 miles out. Three minutes later there was a brief ELT transmission. The 14:15 automatic surface observation for Coeur DAlene reported broken clouds at 100 feet and overcast conditions at 1,600 feet.
March 08, Mica, Wash. / Cessna Stationair
At 14:20 Pacific time, a Canadian-registered Cessna U206G struck trees five miles east/northeast of Mica. The pilot was killed. IMC prevailed and the flight was on a VFR flight plan from Renton, Wash., to Spokane and then on to Calgary, Alberta. The pilot contacted Spokane Approach at 13:51 and reported his position as 15 miles south of Spokane, tracking inbound on a 006 degree magnetic heading at 2,700 feet. He requested the weather and vectors to land and, when asked to squawk 0345, advised he was experiencing some transponder trouble. The aircraft was not radar identified. Less than 10 minutes later the pilot radioed that he would head toward Coeur DAlene, Idaho, or seek a small airpor...
Key Takeaways:
- A Canadian-registered Cessna U206G crashed near Mica, killing the pilot, while operating under Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) despite being on a VFR flight plan.
- The pilot experienced transponder trouble and struggled to navigate, initially requesting vectors to Spokane before deciding to divert due to weather.
- The aircraft was not radar identified, and an ELT transmission occurred shortly after the pilot advised he was heading towards Coeur D'Alene, which reported very low cloud ceilings.
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