Cessna 182S accident near New River, Arizona, July 15, 2007

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The day prior to the accident, the pilot, who was employed as a flight instructor, flew two instructional flights. Following the last flight, about 1511, the pilot went home to take a nap, as he had only 4 hours sleep the night before. Later that afternoon, the pilot and a passenger flew the airplane to a nearby city to have dinner with the pilot's uncle. They left about 2130 for other social plans. At 0231 to 0234 the following morning, they were videoed entering the security gate at the airport en route to their airplane. Radar data recorded that they departed at 0313 and flew north; the airplane leveled off at 8,500 feet. At 0330, radar contact was lost. There was cloud cover in the accident area with tops approximately 10,000 to 11,000 feet, and the bottoms approximately 5,500 feet msl. There was no moon, and the area around the accident site was sparsely populated with few ground lights. A witness saw a flashing red light come out of the bottom of the clouds. She said she saw the airplane drop twice, and each time saw something like car headlights. The airplane went behind the mesa, and a flash of light was seen. Search and rescue teams found the airplane the following day. Examination of the accident site indicated the airplane impacted the terrain in an estimated 110 degree left bank, with its nose level. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical or airframe discrepancies that would have prevented normal operation. Toxicology tests of the pilot and passenger were positive for volatiles (alcohol); however, due to two day delay in recovering the bodies, it could not be determined if the alcohol was ingested or the result of postmortem decomposition.

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.