- Date
- May 25, 1987, 22:00 local (May 26, 1987, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dahlonega, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N704YKCessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870525018669A
- Case key
- 7435
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
The acft impacted trees and a hillside shortly after a night takeoff from rwy 33 while the CFI was flying the acft from the rt seat. The CFI reported that he intended to fly the pattern to demonstrate a ldg to his student. During initial climb, he lost sight of the terrain ahead of the acft and subsequently flew a hdg of 300 degrees using the dg. The acft subsequently hit trees and came to rest nose-down on a hill about 1/2 mile due north of the arpt. The CFI reported that he knew the dg had a tendency to precess excessively and that he had reset it prior to takeoff. Post-crash testing of the dg revealed that it failed to operate within mfr specs. Total reported operating time on the unit since new was 1460 hrs. The arpt was observed to be equipped with lights along only the first 1000 ft of the rwy. The CFI reported that it was accepted local practice to depart only on rwy 15 at night due to the lack of visual cues in the hilly terrain to the north of the arpt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704YK
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078977
- Airframe hours
- 1,496
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dahlonega Aviation
- Registered owner
- Dahlonega Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 16, 1987 · 105 hours before
- Departed
- 9A0 · Dahlonega, GA
- Airport
- 9A0 · Lumpkin County Wimpys, runway 33, 3,000 × 50 ft
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
- 27
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 766 total · 250 in this make and model · 650 as pilot in command · 89 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.