| Crash location | 48.979445°N, 97.542777°W |
| Nearest city | Neche, ND
48.941657°N, 97.480078°W 3.9 miles away |
| Tail number | CFGRD |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 20 Aug 2003 |
| Aircraft type | Cessna 170 |
| Additional details: | None |
On August 20, 2003, at 2030 central daylight time, a Canadian registered Cessna 170, CFGRD, piloted by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing near Neche, North Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The flight departed a private airstrip near Irma, Alberta-Canada, at 1515 and had the intended destination of Altona Airport (CJL6), Altona, Manitoba-Canada.
According to the pilot's written statement, during the cross-country flight the airplane drifted south of the planned route and he was unable to locate CJL6. The pilot reported he decided to make a precautionary landing in an agricultural field. The pilot stated that during the landing roll the aircraft encountered soft terrain and nosed over.
The unsuitable terrain encountered during the precautionary landing. Contributing factors to the accident include the pilot becoming lost/disoriented, his decision to perform a precautionary landing, and the soft terrain encountered during landing.