From the Idaho State Journal a couple of days ago:
" INVESTIGATORS SAY STRONG WINDS ARE TO BLAME FOR CAUSING AN OREGON PILOT TO LOSE CONTROL AND CRASH IN THE COTTRELL MTS. IN SOUTH-CENTRAL IDAHO
COMMERCIAL PILOT THADDEUS BRYCE FICKEL OF HERMISTON OREGON CRASHED DEC. 23RD WHILE FLYING OVER SUGAR BEET PILES NEAR ALBION. THE 44 YEAR OLD PILOT ESCAPED INJURY.
NTSB IS WAITING FOR THE SINGLE ENGINE CESSNA TO BE FULLY RECOVERED BEFORE ADVANCING THE INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATOR JOSH CAWTHRA SAYS WINDS IN THE AREA AT THE TIME OF THE CRASH WERE GUSTING BETWEEN 23 AND 34 MPH. HE SAYS WHEN THE PILOT BEGAN CROSSING THE RIDGELINE THE PLANE BANKED TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT AND ULTIMATELY WAS UNABLE TO RECOVER".
No mention of poor decision making, just blame it all on the winds.

Gusts to 34 MPH were "strong winds?" Maybe a bit "stronger" on the ridges?

OK

Gump

GumpAir wrote:Gusts to 34 MPH were "high winds?"

OK

Gump

Depends.

Reckon they might be if you flew where you shouldn't or perhaps with inadequate airspeed . . . like maybe in the lee of a hill and too close to terrain??

My point exactly, he was flying in rough terrain at low altitude in strong winds. Glad he wasn't hurt. The sugar beet piles are usually on the flats however, so I'm a little baffled there. There are some big mountains near Albion, mostly to the north, 9K plus. I have to wonder if he was doing the picture taking for money (work) so that he may have pushed it a bit? 34 mph wind, in some areas there, and low, would not be any fun.

A friend sent me some pictures of that airplane, where it ended up. He was VERY fortunate it hit where and how it did.

MTV

Hm........here's a story about it. http://www.magicvalley.com/news/local/a ... 2d8e5.html
Seems like maybe he didn't leave a way out crossing a ridge?

Fickel said the plane pitched upward and then he lost altitude, the report said. When he turned on the plane’s landing lights he saw the mountain with its 30 degree slope. He estimated his speed at the time of the crash at about 50 mph.

Brings to life the old emergency landing at night rule:

Glide down to 50 feet and turn on the landing light. If you don't like what you see... Turn the light off.

Gump

good point, gump...maybe he encountered a bit of wind-shear/down draft...damn bad feeling when the bottom drops out like that...happened to me one windy day at 200 agl..never forget that one...

GumpAir wrote:Glide down to 50 feet and turn on the landing light. If you don't like what you see... Turn the light off.

Gump, you are awesome. I have always wanted something clever to say say when students ask me what to do if they had an engine out at night.

Wow, local Albion farmer Jeff Chatburn is THE MAN! What a great ending.
Dark, windy, low level, and in or near mountains, I wonder what went wrong?? Not to be a smart ass but.......sounds like pilot error to me. Google Earth it, east of Albion is a 2,000' high ridge, I wish I knew how to figure the wind direction at the time (we know the estimated strength), out of the west? That'd be my guess. Anyone know how to get the wind direction for Dec 23 rd, early evening?

Here is link to weatherunderground if you scroll down to the bottom you'll see a graph with wind speed and times. There might be a reporting station closer I just don't know the area that well. This is the closest sation to Albion I think.
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=MITD45&month=12&day=23&year=2009

Nick W.

18 to 22 mph, with the wind out of the N,NW, and a 2,000' ridge to the west, maybe could have been a factor, especially in the dark? Not real windy for those parts.

courierguy wrote:Wow... Dark, windy, low level, and in or near mountains, I wonder what went wrong??

While pilot error will be a given, he wouldn't be the first guy to routinely work in those conditions. Everyone's minimums are different, and should be. Doesn't sound like the time and place to be trying to do precision work in a 172 though? I must have missed the low level part. I wonder what altitude you shoot that type of stuff?
If it truly was 'low level', a 'near by' wind report would be great for general trends, but beyond that is pretty moot ... Low level conditions have so many 'location specific' influences that they are tough to judge by a wind report from miles away. What was 18-22 'near by' could have easily been one third of that (or triple) at the photo location,and direction is a whole other game. It's why airports have multiple windsocks, and spray planes have smokers.
I wonder if he was still working the plane? 18-22 doesn't sound like much wind, until you are trying to repetitively place an airplane in a precise geographical location, with minimum tolerance, and in a timely fashion. I don't know much about that business, but I would bet that beet pile would have still been there to 'shoot' another night.

Rob, I think he was done working, but when you see that hill he hit, it explains the wind. You are dead on when you say that wind conditions a little ways off MAY be pretty irrelevant, depending on terrain, etc. With that terrain, a 20 knot wind could easily have turned into 40 or more, and a serious downdraft. I just can't believe he'd be flying that close to that rockpile in the dark. I assume he must have flown OVER it, and got caught in the downdraft. The plane is pointed nose down on a very steep slope, below the vertical rock face.

MTV