NTSB Finds Engine Producing Plenty Of Power At Time Of Impact

There were no apparent engine problems and no contributing medical issues in the crash of a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182R earlier this year. Two people died in the accident when the aircraft went down on approach to Monroe Regional Airport in Louisiana.

It happened around 2010 on January 11th, according to the NTSB report. The two men on board, Arlen Rawls and Tommy Ray Nichols, were both experienced pilots. They were conducting VFR and IFR touch-and-go's and stop-and-go's when a low cloud bank rolled in.

The NTSB report states:

According to individuals at the airport, the two occupants executed a number of practice instrument approaches in visual meteorological conditions, and then landed, took a short break, and took off again. After the takeoff, while still operating in visual conditions, the pilot completed one successful instrument approach to a stop-and-go landing.

After that approach, the airport switched to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) because of the formation of a 900 foot ceiling. The aircraft was then cleared for another instrument approach, but the pilot had to execute a missed approach due to a failure to maintain a correct approach track.

The aircraft was cleared for another instrument approach, but the pilot again had to execute a missed approach. During that missed approach, the controller gave the pilot a radar vector in order to reposition the aircraft to a location where the pilot could initiate an intercept of the localizer, and during a turn in the direction of the assigned heading both radar and radio contact were lost.

The C-182 was found in about a foot of water, ten miles north of the airport.

"We tore into the engine and didn't find anything at all wrong," NTB Investigator Kurt Anderson told the Monroe News-Star. "The plane was producing significant power when it hit the swamp. I took the vacuum pump (that controls some key instrument panel indicators) off of the engine, and there was no indication of any problem there."

As for the two pilots, Anderson said, toxicology tests came back clean and there was no evidence that either had suffered a sudden medical crisis like a heart attack or stroke.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov