- Date
- October 18, 1988, 14:10 local (18:10 UTC)
- Place
- La Follette, TN
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N30470Cessna 177A
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 16, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881018046959A
- Case key
- 7857
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 plt departed knoxville in VFR conds. There was an area of IFR wx to the north & northwest of knoxville. The wx was forecast to be marginal along his route of flt. The plt rprtd he wanted to depart knoxville on a heading of 360 deg & would be at 2500'. The max elev for the sector just north of knoxville was 3900'. The 1349 EDT wx at the departure arpt (mcghee tyson, elev 981') was 1900' overcast, visibility 10 mi with rain & fog. Subsequently, the acft collided with mountainous terrain at an elev of 2350', aprx 27 mi north of mcghee tyson. Witnesses near the crash site indicated the mountains were obscured by clouds, fog & rain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N30470
- Reported as
- Cessna 177A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17701276
- Airframe hours
- 2,836
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A2F, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David L. Oakley
- Registered owner
- David L Oakley/Ollie B Oakley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 24, 1988 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- TYS · Knoxville, TN
- Destination
- DNV · Danville, IL
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 530 total · 107 in this make and model · 449 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 14 knots
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TYS, 38 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.