NTSB Blames Bad Ice, Bad Winds and Bad Speed, Pilot Error For Wyoming Accident

When Gerald Burger took off from the Rock Springs-Sweetwater Airport (WY) in his V-35B, he had no idea it would be his last flight. But there was ice and high winds and the combination proved deadly.

In an NTSB report on the January 30th accident, it appears Burger experienced serious icing shortly after he left Casper for San Diego (CA).

Burger ran into what he described as "moderate icing" and requested permission to land IFR at Rock Springs (WY) about an hour after take-off. The NTSB reports Burger "let his altitude slip" and saw a large butte looming in his windscreen before controllers lost contact with his aircraft.

Burger departed Casper at 8:29am on that fateful day. At 9:18am, he reported icing conditions.

Things started to move pretty fast after that. At 9:31, Burger reported he was "in the clear" and between layers of overcast. He had been cleared down to 13,000. He was cleared for a further descent into Rock Springs. Burger's ground speed had been reduced to just 74 knots.

At 9:39am, ATC asked if Burger wanted an ILS approach.

"Ah yes, we'll do the ILS. I still got quite a load of ice here on my wings," he said.

Four minutes later, Burger was cleared to descend from 13,000 MSL to 11,000 MSL. At 9:43am, he was cleared to descend to 10,000 MSL. But Burger apparently broke altitude.

"I'm going down to 9,100 (feet) right away," he radioed, after being cleared for the ILS.

Eleven minutes later, Burger was having trouble spotting the airport. ATC told him he was about 12 miles out.

"I'm coming around a big peak here," the pilot replied. "It looks like I let my altitude slide a bit. I apologize. I'm going to go around that."

Radar contact was lost one minute later. Burger's last known position was 17 miles east of the Rock Springs Airport. His altitude was last recorded as 8,000 MSL.

The wreckage was found at 6,937 feet MSL, in scrub-covered hills.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov