August 3, 1999: General Aviation, Cessna 177B (N19113) Grand Canyon, AZ
The aircraft, a Cessna 177B Cardinal was rented from Aero Haven, Inc. of Big Bear, California by 39 year old Michael Regli for a three day personal flight with stops at Las Vegas, Nevada and Grand Canyon, Arizona. The aircraft was scheduled to return to Big Bear on August 3, 1999. Accompanying Regli on the trip was Christine Hostettler, age 21 and Celine Lesignioli, age 22. The airplane arrived at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport parking ramp about 5:40 P.M. on August 1st, where it remained for the night. On August 2nd. At 2:00 P.M., the trio departed Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon.
Arriving at the Grand Canyon, the aircraft again remained overnight and was refueled to full tanks prior to departure. Regli, with only 422 hours of total flight time logged appeared to be unfamiliar and unprepared at the canyon having asked the controller in the tower numerous times for local radio frequencies. Information that would have been on sectional charts and the Airport Facility Directory (AFD) for Arizona. However, the only sectional chart in the aircraft was for Las Vegas and the AFD was for California.
With full fuel tanks, luggage, and three persons on-board, the Cardinal was heavy and only a few pounds short of it's gross weight limit of 2,500 pounds. Compounding to these limitations was the air temperature at a warm 73 degrees Fahrenheit. The density altitude was at 8,800 feet msl. The Cardinal, with it's non turbo-charged engine would still be able to climb, but just barely and ONLY if the engine was operating at it's optimum level of performance.
With Regli in the left seat and Hostettler sitting up front in the right seat, Celine Lesignioli had the entire back seat row to herself. Lesignioli most likely intended on taking a short nap on the 2 hour return flight to Big Bear. At 2:07 P.M., the control tower cleared N19113 for takeoff on runway 03. The aircraft accelerated slowly and lifted off the 8,999 foot runway, but the climb rate was slow and far from normal. Regli should have aborted the takeoff and landed on the remaining runway, but he didn't.
Within a few seconds the end of runway 03 passed below the staggering Cessna with the view opening up to a sea of tall pine trees and rising terrain. The aircraft barely cleared the rooftops of hotels and other businesses in the town of Tusayan startling many people on the ground of the low flying aircraft. The tower controller noticing the aircraft in trouble suggested to the pilot, "If you need to turn up the highway for altitude you can do that" Regli acknowledged, but as the aircraft crossed the highway it was flying too slow to make the turn. The aircraft suddenly rolled left and crashed down through the trees.
Striking one tree at 40 feet above the ground, the impact tore the tail section from the aircraft. The aircraft pitched over and crashed nose first into the ground instantly killing Michael Regli and Christine Hostettler. Celine Lesignioli remained trapped in the crumpled aircraft critically injured, but alive. In a twist of fate, the hot engine was thrown clear of the wreckage and away from the high octane fuel pouring from the aircraft's wing fuel tanks. further saving the life of Lesignioli.
The accident investigation revealed that the pilot used poor judgment in flight planning by not determining the performance of the aircraft prior to takeoff. In addition, the pilot did not have the sectional charts or other airport information to make a safe departure from Grand Canyon. The investigation also revealed that engine performance was degraded on takeoff by density altitude, improperly gapped spark plugs and a weak magneto.
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HISTORICAL SUMMARY:
I was on a small local hike about five years ago when I found this crash site. I never really did anything with it since it was a small general aviation accident and I was primarily researching large civilian and military crash sites at the time. As I began to focus more of my research on all accidents in the Grand Canyon region I came back to this site to research and document it.
The crash site is contained within a relatively small area. Beginning from the first tree impact, the wreckage extends about 50 feet on a 330 degree magnetic heading. A prescribed management fire burned much of the forest undergrowth helping in the on-site research. The fuselage main impact site was identified by the concentration of small fragments of cockpit components and material. These items were photographed and not collected.
AIRCRAFT INVOLVED
The Cessna 177 Cardinal is a light, high-wing general aviation aircraft that was intended to replace Cessna's 172 Skyhawk. First announced in 1967, it was produced from 1968 to 1978.
The accident airplane, N19113 (s/n: 17702558) was a Cessna 177B built in 1976. It was a rental airplane from Aero Haven, Inc. of Big Bear City, California. (Courtesy of Ewald Tritscher)
LONG DISTANCE TRAVELER
During 1994/1995, Ewald Tritscher flew the Cardinal from it's home base in Big Bear City down into South America and back to Big Bear. (Courtesy of Ewald Tritscher)
The instrument panel of "N19113" had a mix of original and updated avionics. (Courtesy of Ewald Tritscher)
WARNINGS EVERYWHERE
Prominent signs on either end of the runway warn pilots to check the density altitude. In addition, the density altitude is recorded and played back on the airport information (ATIS) frequency.
The plane had been fueled (topped off) the night before. The aircraft weight at takeoff was estimated to be very close to the maximum gross weight of 2,500 pounds.
Runway 03 has a positive gradient of 0.8 percent. The terrain continues to rise north of the airport.
At 2:05 P.M., the aircraft was cleared for takeoff from Runway 03. The aircraft climbed slowly from the runway, but never achieved a positive climb rate.
The aircraft barely cleared the rooftops of businesses in the town of Tusayan located one mile north of the airport.
At 2:07 P.M., two miles north of the airport, the aircraft stalled and rolled left in a descending turn through the trees.
A newspaper article the next day gives an account to the tragedy. Miraculously one passenger survived this accident.
This newspaper photo illustrates how the aircraft came to rest in a vertical nose-down position. The aircraft struck a large pine tree which severed the tail section. The aircraft literally fell straight down into the forest with little if any forward movement.
VISITING THE CRASH SITE - OCTOBER 2010
The accident site is located about 2 miles north of the airport and only 300 feet east of highway 64.
When I visited the site, a management fire had burned through the area a year or so prior to my visit. The fire exposed many small wreckage fragments that were previously hidden by the forest under-growth.
These fragments of fairing or wingtip plastic show the aircraft paint scheme being of overall white with orange and brown stripes.
The paint scheme is a typical standard 1970s Cessna factory scheme.
This knob from the aircraft cockpit could have been used to regulate a number of systems such as vented cabin air (hot or cold) or the manual fuel primer for the engine.
This burned and melted small access door with an attached latch mechanism may have come from the engine cowling area.
There was no post crash fire from this accident, so this burn damage occurred during the prescribed management fire years later.
The aircraft initially struck the top of this 60 foot Ponderosa Pine tree breaking off about 16 feet of the upper section which was found lying at the base of the tree.
This view of the tree shows that it was clearly topped by the aircraft at the 40-50 foot level. The impact subsequently severed the tail section from the aircraft.
A broken pine tree branch from the initial impact still lies entangled in the branches of an adjacent tree after nearly 11 years.
The top 16 feet of the tree that was struck was still lying on the forest floor during my visit to the site.
Even though a majority of the wreckage was removed, the site still contains small identifiable components and fragments.
In this photo I am inspecting one of the aircraft's two fuel gauges located where the fuselage came to rest.
The aircraft cockpit area was severely damaged in the accident, so it was not too surprising to find small instruments such as this fuel gauge in the debris field.
Portions of the plastic overlay that made up the aircraft instrument panel were found at the main impact area. One fragment still had a placard attached that noted the maximum crosswind allowed for the aircraft was 16 knots.
This electrical wire and screw-on socket were used in conjunction with the aircraft's wingtip or tail position lights.
This tinted window Plexiglas was relatively thick and probably came from the forward windscreen of the aircraft.
The only personal effect located at the crash site was this single key from either the pilot or one of the passengers.
This trailing marker beacon antenna was originally located on the bottom of the aircraft.
I found these machine screws and other lightweight aircraft hardware partially buried in the wet mud.
The corner fragment of a shattered aircraft flight instrument case was located near the fuselage main impact site.
The crash site was cleaned up very well and I had to search the site thoroughly to locate a single fragment of torn metal.
Within a few minutes I recovered this small fragment of wreckage.
A hose clamp probably from the engine compartment rests untouched on the forest floor.
MEMORIAL
A single cross at the crash site marks a memorial for pilot Michael Regli who died in the accident along with Christine Hostettler.
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