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| Date: | Saturday 29 July 2023 |
| Time: | 12:05 |
| Type: |  Cessna 177 Cardinal |
| Owner/operator: | High West Aero LLC |
| Registration: | N3357T |
| MSN: | 17700657 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1967 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Gillette–Campbell County Airport (GCC/KGCC), Gillette, WY -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Gillette-Campbell County Airport, WY (GCC/KGCC) |
| Livingston-Mission Field, MT (LVM/KLVM) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
On July 29, 2023, about 1205 Mountain daylight time, a Cessna 177, N3357T, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Gillette, Wyoming. The pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot reported that he and a passenger were on a multi-legged cross-country flight from Whitman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to Felts Airport, Spokane, Washington. Witnesses reported that the airplane had been fueled prior to takeoff from the Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport (GCC), Gillette. Witnesses observed the airplane depart runway 16 and reported that the engine seemed to be at full power with the flaps up.
The pilot reported that during takeoff, the airplane did not ascend as he expected. After the airplane crossed the departure end of the runway with rising terrain ahead, the pilot made a shallow right turn and elected to land in an open field as a precaution. Subsequently, the airplane impacted a hay bale during landing and the airplane came to rest nosed over. The pilot stated that he did not see the hay bale during the descent and flare. He added that he had previously executed takeoffs with full fuel during the trip.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. A postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no mechanical anomalies.
An owner’s manual (OM) for a similar make and model of the airplane with an engine comparable to the accident engine reported that the maximum gross weight is 2,500. The OM allowed for the flap settings to be at 0° to 10°. The calculated takeoff distance from a hard surface with flaps 15° at a maximum weight of 2,500 pounds, and travelling at an indicated airspeed of 65 knots, was about 678 ft for the ground roll and about 1,524 ft total to clear a 50-ft obstacle (assuming 2,700 rpm, a 20-knot headwind, an altitude of 5,000 ft msl, and a temperature of 80°F). The calculated maximum rate of climb at a maximum gross weight of 2,500 pounds, and travelling at an indicated airspeed of 89 knots, was about 470 feet per minute at an altitude of 5,000 ft msl and temperature of 80°F. It is likely that the airplane did not have the performance to climb out of the airport environment due to the high-density altitude and being at maximum gross weight.
---BEGIN PILOT'S NOTE---
I was PIC that day.
The crash was not caused by max gross weight at ~6600' density altitude, but strong terrain-induced downdrafts.
Although I repeatedly described in my statements and emails to NTSB the rotor wave action from the strong southerly wind over the E/W ridgeline, such was unmentioned in both their Preliminary and Final Reports. Furthermore, their Final Report incorrectly listed "None" for Turbulence Type and Severity. The "Environmental issues" were limited to DA, and did not include wind, turbulence, or downdrafts.
"Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge."
— Erwin Knoll, Knoll's Law of Media Accuracy
Thus, since I was there and have firsthand knowledge, I flatly disagree with the NTSB's theory of "It is likely that the airplane did not have the performance to climb out of the airport environment due to the high-density altitude and being at maximum gross weight."
Using the NTSB's own figures for T/O and climb performance disputes their probable cause. From 50' AGL after 1524' T/O roll, it was 17,519' to the town intersection of Hwy 16 and Greenway Dr. (runway heading to a terrain saddle), thus 1.945 min. of flight and 914' of climb to 5279' MSL or 708' AGL. I.e., without those unforeseen ridgeline downdrafts, the plane would have been able to easily clear the rising terrain. The crash was not a failure of ADM regarding DA and MGW.
The NTSB Investigator was a former military helo pilot (but not FW rated), and as a rotorcraft rated pilot myself I can attest that most turbulence passes through a rotor disk, vs affecting fixed wings far more dramatically. This fact was apparently not considered in his analysis.
Back to that day. Winds were squirrelly during taxi from 160-180 at 16G21KT, but seemed to have temporarily "calmed" to ~16KT straight down R16.
With 16 kt of headwind, I rolled without flaps as the Horton STOL kit didn't need it on 7501' Runway 16. I expected to launch easily with such headwind. 6540' DA was not excessive for takeoff and initial climb, and I am used to such in mountainous summers.
Takeoff and initial climb were were hampered by the rotors' "roof" and in retrospect I admit that I should have aborted T/O roll or at once landed right back on R16.
Moral: abort takeoff for ANYTHING out of the ordinary, taxi off the runway, and then figure it out on the ramp. Rejected landings are commonly practiced, but not aborted takeoffs. This is what I mostly learned from that day.
I couldn't clear the looming ridgeline to the South, and East base was over businesses and hills, so I diverted to short emergency final to land in the only open pasture around (to the W/NW) without hay bales. That would have worked out OK, if not for a sudden and very dramatic 1500+ fpm downdraft column at ~100' AGL. It was the strongest downdraft I've ever experienced, in any aircraft. It felt like an elevator free-fall. I had no time to lower flaps.
Realizing that imminent impact was inevitable, I flared hard to null out as much of the downdraft as possible. As the nose rose in the flare, I lost sight of the hayfield below that I was leaving, and the downdraft pushed the plane into a large round hay bale which I could no longer see. Another 40' of forward travel would have cleared the plane of the field's last hay bale and the fence.
Plane didn't stall, but was violently pushed down, losing much of its glide slope. Impact was predominantly flat, with wings level. Down in <3 seconds from 100' AGL.
GCC is in a 3-walled bowl, open to the North. Traffic on R34 is most common, and doesn't present T/O issues. I've used Runway 16 before, but only with easterly winds (where the hills are fewer and lower). Southerly wind over the E/W ridge is damned funky and not to be trifled with.
I'm not sure I could have outclimbed those rotors even by myself and without baggage. Single-engine airplanes can easily no longer have the power you need in special conditions. I should have aborted the T/O roll or landed immediately, but the sluggish initial climb was baffling to me during a 16 kt headwind and I was in problem-solving mode those first critical seconds. Best to solve the puzzle on the ground, if you can get there quickly and safely. Lesson: abort T/O early, for any reason.
---END PILOT'S NOTE---
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/local/article_9ad9b65f-70ab-506a-af0a-78237eb23b54.html
NTSB
FAA
PIC
Location
Images:
GCC DA of 6540 ft
GCC winds that day
terrain maps assembled post-crash
Media:
NTSB investigating the crash of a Cessna 177 airplane near Gillette, Wyoming.
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 30, 2023
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Jul-2023 01:24 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 01-Aug-2023 08:05 | Captain Adam | Updated |
| 28-Mar-2024 06:47 | Downdraft Column | Updated [Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 28-Mar-2024 06:47 | Downdraft Column | Updated [Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 28-Mar-2024 08:40 | Downdraft Column | Updated [Phase, ] |
| 10-Sep-2025 06:11 | Downdraft Column | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
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