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LAX92LA190 · Cessna 177RG

26 Apr 1992 · Mammoth Lakes, CA, United States

Cessna 177RG · Accident: in flight encounter with weather while maneuvering

From Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH) to Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope Airport (BUR)

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Event

NTSB case
LAX92LA190
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Cessna 177RG

Aircraft type
Cessna 177
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N33248
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH)To Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope Airport (BUR), Burbank, CA
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Maneuvering
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight encounter with weather
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Airspeed, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Mixture, improper use of
  • Pilot in command › Weather evaluation, inaccurate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

BEFORE TAKEOFF, THE PLT RECEIVED A WX BRIEFING & A LOCAL AUTOMATED WX OBSERVATION THAT REPORTED STANDING LENTICULAR CLOUDS & 9100' DENSITY ALTITUDE. HE TOOK OFF ON RWY 27, WHICH SLOPED UPWARD & WAS SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. THE WIND WAS REPORTEDLY FROM 270 DEG AT 4 GUSTING 18 KTS & THE ACFT WAS LOADED AT/NEAR ITS MAXIMUM TAKEOFF WT. THE PLT SAID THAT FOR TAKEOFF, THE MIXTURE WAS SET FOR 'HIGHEST RPM AND PEAK EGT,' BUT THE FLT MANUAL RECOMMENDED THE MIXTURE BE LEANED ACCORDING TO THE MAXIMUM POWER FUEL FLOW PLACARD. AFTER LIFT-OFF, THE PLT HAD DIFFICULTY ESTABLISHING A CLIMB. HE SAID THE ACFT WOULD NOT CLIMB AFTER REACHING 500' AGL & BEGAN LOSING ALTITUDE. A PASSENGER SAID THE PLT CIRCLED & TRIED TO GAIN ALTITUDE, BUT ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT. REPORTEDLY, THE STALL WARNING HORN SOUNDED ALMOST CON- TINUOUSLY. THE PLT SAID HE TURNED BACK TOWARD THE AIRPORT, BUT THE DESCENT INCREASED. SUBSEQUENTLY, HE LANDED SHORT OF RWY 27 & THE ACFT HIT DITCHES DURING THE LANDING ROLL. THE ENG WAS NOT DAMAGED & WAS RETURNED TO SVC WITHOUT REPAIR.

Probable cause

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INACCURATE WEATHER EVALUATION, HIS IMPROPER SETTING OF THE MIXTURE CONTROL, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER CLIMB AIRSPEED. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, UNFAVORABLE WIND WITH MOUNTAIN WAVE ACTIVITY AND DOWNDRAFTS, THE PILOT'S APPARENT LACK OF EXPERIENCE WITH THE TYPE OF OPERATION (MOUNTAIN FLYING), AND DITCHES IN THE EMERGENCY LANDING AREA.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX92LA190
Event ID
20001211X14464
Case number
LAX92LA190
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 24a6ce5a6a48fef62e00a2897ba7a4af08e74c0c71254814fec8dadc4cf28c90; retrieved 2026-09-23T03:12:19.880Z.