Cessna 182 Skylane

Up to 28 October 2026, 120 fatal Cessna 182 accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward the score. About half of their summaries mention night, cloud, fog or smoke, and about a quarter mention mountains, canyons or ridges. Per flight, the record is in the upper half of the small planes we rate, but clearly behind the Cessna 172. Much of the difference is in how the 182 is flown: farther, higher, with heavier loads and more often for work.

Why do pilots choose a 182?

The Skylane is the 172's bigger sibling, a four-seat, high-wing single with fixed gear (the 182RG has retractable gear), a stronger engine and a variable-pitch propeller. Cessna has built about 24,000 since 1956, and the US register held about 13,400 in 2026. Owners use it for longer trips and mountain and backcountry strips. It is also a common jump plane at small skydiving drop zones, a workhorse for pipeline patrol, and a mainstay of the Civil Air Patrol fleet.

How the record is counted

Only US accidents and flights since 2008 go into the score. The fatal accidents are from the NTSB database; the roughly 18 million flights (take-off to final landing) are our estimate from the FAA aircraft register and the FAA General Aviation survey. The survey gives hours for all single-engine pistons together; airframe hours in NTSB accident records and, to a lesser degree, hours per aircraft seen by ADS-B receivers set each type's share. Those measures show that a 182 makes far fewer flights a year than a school 172, so its record per flight trails the 172's. A flight in any light aircraft carries far more risk than a seat on an airline. Our method has the details.

Of the 120 counted accidents, 109 were private and other flights, six ferry flights and five training flights. Loss of control (42) and flight into terrain (36) lead, then losses of engine power (14).

Cloud, ice and mountains

At least 20 summaries say the pilot had no instrument rating. Near Augusta, Montana, on 8 August 2024, such a pilot flew low through canyons under lowering cloud, and the 182 hit the wall of a foggy pass; all three on board died. Mountains show up in the training record too: near Armistead, California, on 7 May 2026, a 182T flew up a narrow canyon and two died. No cause has been published.

Six accidents involved ice. Near Albany, Wyoming, on 14 May 2023, a Turbo Skylane over its maximum weight and not approved for icing flew into forecast ice at 13,000 ft, then stalled and spun in.

Jump flights, patrols and the Civil Air Patrol

Five counted accidents were skydiving flights. The deadliest 182 accident since 2008 was one: near Port Allen, Kauai, on 23 May 2016, the engine partly lost power after take-off with four skydivers on board, the aircraft stalled and all five died. At Swainsboro, Georgia, on 25 August 2018, another jump plane lost all power at about 150 ft and four of five died; the NTSB could not determine why. Four were pipeline or aerial patrol flights, and three were Civil Air Patrol flights, among them a photo mission near Drake, Colorado, on 23 November 2024 that met mountain wave turbulence.

Before you fly in one

1. As a skydiver, ask the drop zone who maintains the aircraft and how often, and what the pilot does if the engine falters below about 500 ft.
2. As a passenger, ask whether the pilot is instrument rated and current, and what the plan is if cloud or darkness comes early.
3. As a pilot moving up from a 172, get a checkout that covers the propeller control, weight and balance with full seats, and mountain flying before you take one into high terrain.
4. Check the operator or the aircraft's N-number in the NTSB CAROL database.

How to tell if you are on one

Flight trackers show C182, C82R, C82S or C82T, depending on the version. The small-planes ranking compares it with the other types we rate.