Cessna 182 accident near Estacada, Oregon, September 29, 2002
On September 29, 2002 at about 1:45 am local time, a Cessna 182, registered N5337B, was destroyed in an accident near Estacada, Oregon. It was a skydiving flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 5 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The entanglement of an inadvertently opened skydiver's parachute in the aircraft’s elevator and rudder just after a group of four skydivers positioned themselves on the aircraft's external jump platform prior to a jump.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 29, 2002 · about 1:45 am local time
- Place
- Estacada, Oregon · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 5 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 182 · all 182s on the register
- Registration
- N5337B · registry record · serial 33337
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Skydiving flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While the aircraft was level at 10,500 feet above sea level (MSL), four skydivers took their positions on the right exterior jump-step of the aircraft. Just after the last jumper was on the step, the parachute of one of the jumpers inadvertently deployed and streamed back into the aircraft's tail surfaces. Soon thereafter, the subject jumper separated himself from the deployed parachute, jumped from the aircraft, and opened his reserve chute. At about the same time, the other three jumpers also departed the aircraft. Although the pilot attempted to control the aircraft, he found that with the parachute wrapped around the tail surfaces, the rudder and elevator did not respond to his control inputs. He therefore applied a small amount of right rudder in an attempt to separate the parachute from the aircraft, but the airplane responded by pitching nose down and entering what appeared to the pilot to be an inverted spin. At that point, the pilot also jumped from the aircraft and successfully opened his parachute, and the aircraft continued to spin inverted until it impacted the terrain.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 176 hours in all; 69 in this make and model; 47 in the last 90 days; 19 in the last 30 days; 123 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: February 25, 2001
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,811 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 10, 2001
- Maximum gross weight: 2,950 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-470-S (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: OR66 Estacada OR at 1:30 am
- Destination: OR66
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 43°F (6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.73 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 4 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.