ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 174903
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| Date: | Saturday 5 January 2002 |
| Time: | 15:58 |
| Type: |  Cessna 172K Skyhawk |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N78035 |
| MSN: | 17257468 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1968 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4823 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360-A4M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Boulder, CO -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Vance Brand Airport, CO (2V2) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On January 5, 2002, at 1558 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172K, N78035, was destroyed when it collided with terrain while maneuvering near Boulder, Colorado. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant in the airplane, was fatally injured. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight that had originated approximately 35 minutes before the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
Radar data indicates that the pilot was airborne for approximately 34 minutes when he began squawking 7700 (emergency transmission). Witnesses said the airplane flew straight and level into the mountain. The pilot's wife said that he was being treated for depression. A psychotherapist reported that the pilot had been seeing her for approximately 2 and a half months, twice a week, for severe depression. She said he was also taking an anti-depressant medication. She further stated that the pilot told her that if "he killed himself, he would do it in a plane, and crash it with only himself in it." On March 7, 2002, the Boulder County coroner ruled the pilot's manner of death as suicide.
Probable Cause: the pilot's intentional suicidal flight into terrain. Contributing factors were the pilot's psychological depressive state, and his use of inappropriate medication.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20020117X00084&key=1
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Mar-2015 19:33 | harro | Added |
| 21-Mar-2016 16:04 | beaverspotter | Updated [Cn] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 09-Dec-2017 15:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-May-2022 07:15 | harro | Updated [Operator] |
| 28-Jul-2023 07:57 | Captain Adam | Updated [[Operator]] |
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