At approximately 19:14 PDT, a Cessna 150G crashed near the Detroit Lake reservoir, seriously injuring the pilot. The aircraft had departed VFR at 16:00 from Lebanon, Ore., and was destined for Estacada. The pilot was unable to land at Estacada due to high winds and subsequently attempted to return to Lebanon State. At about 18:30 he declared an emergency with the Seattle ARTCC, using another aircraft as a radio relay, and contacted the Seattle ARTCC directly about 30 minutes later. The non-instrument rated pilot said he had been flying in a snowstorm for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, did not know where he was, could not see anything on the ground, was low on fuel, and that he thought the aircraft may be iced up. Controllers were attempting to guide the pilot into Davis Airport in Gates at the time contact with the aircraft was lost. Searchers found the pilot and the wreckage at 12:30 the next day on a mountainside at about 3,500 feet. Investigators found no evidence that the pilot had received a preflight weather briefing.
May 6, Detroit, Ore. / Cessna 150G
At approximately 19:14 PDT, a Cessna 150G crashed near the Detroit Lake reservoir, seriously injuring the pilot. The aircraft had departed VFR at 16:00 from Lebanon, Ore., and was destined for Estacada. The pilot was unable to land at Estacada due to high winds and subsequently attempted to return to Lebanon State. At about 18:30 he declared an emergency with the Seattle ARTCC, using another aircraft as a radio relay, and contacted the Seattle ARTCC directly about 30 minutes later. The non-instrument rated pilot said he had been flying in a snowstorm for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, did not know where he was, could not see anything on the ground, was low on fuel, and that he thought the a...
Key Takeaways:
- A non-instrument rated pilot was seriously injured when his Cessna 150G crashed near the Detroit Lake reservoir after encountering severe weather.
- The pilot declared an emergency after being unable to land due to high winds, subsequently flying into a snowstorm where he reported being lost, having no ground visibility, low fuel, and suspected aircraft icing.
- Investigators found no evidence that the pilot had received a preflight weather briefing, a likely contributing factor to the incident that occurred while controllers were attempting to guide him.
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