NYC85FFA02 · Cessna 177
Cessna 177 · Accident: in flight encounter with weather en route
From Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK) to Oxford, ME
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC85FFA02
- 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
- Instrument Meteorological Cond
Cessna 177
- 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
- N3401T
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), Frederick, MDTo Oxford, ME
- 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
- En route · cruise
- 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
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Visual flight rules (VFR) flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC); Tree(s)
- 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 › In-flight planning/decision, improper
- Pilot in command › In-flight weather advisories, not obtained
- Pilot in command › Judgment, poor
- Pilot in command › Lack of total experience in kind of aircraft
- Pilot in command › Overconfidence in personal ability
- Pilot in command › Planned approach, misjudged
- Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate
- Pilot in command › VFR flight into imc, continued
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE ACFT IMPACTED TREES DURING A PRECAUTIONARY LNDG DUE TO THE PLTS EST OF A LOW FUEL STATE. THE FLT HAD PROCEEDED R ENROUTE TO AN INTENDED DEST OF OXFORD ME FROM FREDERICK MD WITHOUT FILLING A FLT PLAN. AFTER APRX 3 HRS OF FLYING ON A 60 DEGREE MAG HDG THE PLT DECIDED TO DESCEND THROUGH THE CLOUD DECK TO LOOK FOR AN ARPT TO REFUEL OR A FIELD FOR A PRECAUTIONARY LNDGING DUE TO LOW FUEL STATE. THE DESCENT WAS MADE FROM 9500 FT TO 3500 FT FINALLY IN DETERIORATING WX. CLARYVILLE NY WAS CIRCLED A FEW TIMES IN AN ATTEMPT AT ORIGINATION. THE PLT NEVER USED THE RADIO,HE SAID.TO TRY FOR 2 WAY COMMUNICATION FOR NAV AID. AN ATTEMPT TO LAND IN A FIELD NW OF CLARYVILLE ENDED IN AN OVERSHOOT & ATTEMPTED GO-AROUND BEFORE FLYING UNDER WIRES & STRIKING TREES. THE ACFT WAS IMPALED ABOUT 12 FT AGL. THE PLT STATED THAT HE NEVER CONSIDERED MAKING A 180 DEGREE TURN DURING THE DETERIORATING WX EVEN THOUGH HE WAS UNSURE OF HIS POSITION WHEN STARTING THE DESCENT FROM 9500 FT. ONE WING TANK WAS RUPTURED IN THE CRASH & THE PLT COULD NOT EST FUEL REMAINING.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC85FFA02
- Event ID
- 20001214X36300
- Case number
- NYC85FFA02
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
- 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: 646980065cbe2b26c6655de468dd8aed996116dd88101815b53e4b5902bef370; retrieved 2026-09-21T17:18:41.877Z.
- Corrected after a review of the NTSB narrative, which states these values explicitly: destination. The narrative states the flight was "ENROUTE TO AN INTENDED DEST OF OXFORD ME FROM FREDERICK MD"; the destination was not recorded.