- Date
- October 1, 1988, 20:25 local (Oct 2, 1988, 04:25 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N420SBCessna 180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19881001042689A
- Case key
- 5132
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Drg arrival to land on a lake at night, the plt began a 180 deg turn from a NE heading at aprx 500' AGL to a final apch on a sw heading. As the acft was in the turn, it began losing altitude rapidly. The plt applied power to stop the descent, but the acft struck trees at the edge of the lake. The plt said the acft's forward motion had been nearly stopped by the trees by the time it dropped & came to rest at the edge of the lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N420SB
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18052313
- Airframe hours
- 3,337
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Graham, Bobby
- Registered owner
- Bobby Graham
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 3, 1988 · 77 hours before
- Departed
- Lake Iliamna, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,544 total · 1,100 in this make and model · 2,540 as pilot in command · 146 in the last 90 days · 55 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 170° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N420SB · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.