Feb. 24, El Prado, N.M. / Cessna 182

At about 18:45 MST, a Cessna 182E crashed on descent into Taos Municipal Airport, killing the pilot. IMC prevailed and no flight plan had been filed, although the pilot had an instrument rating. Before the pilot left Albuquerque, he had received a weather briefing that VFR flight was not recommended. He departed and was talking to a friend in Taos over the radio. When he got close to Taos, the pilot said he had the airport in sight but was having trouble keeping the runway lights in sight because he was flying in and out of snow showers. He was flying about 500 feet agl when he said he was picking up ice. He crashed about 1.5 miles east of the airport.