- Date
- March 18, 1990, 02:20 local (07:20 UTC)
- Place
- Beaufort, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N704EACessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900318004699A
- Case key
- 8221
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's delayed pull up from an intentional descent during an aborted suicide attempt.
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 pilot confessed to police that he became intoxicated and flew the airplane without authorization. He stated that after returning to the airport to land, he dove the airplane at the ground to commit suicide. Before impact, he tried to arrest the descent by pulling aft on the yoke, but the aircraft collided with the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N704EA
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15078542
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Tar Heel Aviation
- Registered owner
- Tar Heel Aviation
- Departed
- MRH
- Destination
- MRH
- Airport
- MRH · Beaufort-Morehead City, runway 26, 4,252 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 310° at 10 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EWN, 30 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.
Other investigations on N704EA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.