- Date
- January 18, 1990, 05:51 local (10:51 UTC)
- Place
- Ansonia, OH
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N331DPLearjet 23
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900118000659A
- Case key
- 8288
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 flight crew became incapacitated for undetermined reasons and lost control of the airplane.
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
At 0515 EST, the flt was clrd for takeoff on a flt fm yplisanta, mi to louisville, KY. Abt 17 min later, the flt crew bgn to display indcns of a deterioration of their ability to ctl the acft. At 1st, they deviated fm instrns to hold west of the findlay VOR at FL220. As the flt contd & was clrd to FL270, the crew displayed confusion abt mag hdgs & basic instrns. At 1048 EST, the acft deviated fm the en route hdg & the wrong hdg was read back after a hdg correction was given. Also, the acft contd climbing (to FL291), then radar & radio ctc were lost at 0551 EST. The ctlr noted the plt's speech was slurred & some portions of the conversation were unintelligible. Subsequently, the acft crashed in a steep dive. No preimpact part failure was verified, though impact forces & post-crash fire resulted in extsv dmg of the acft. The acft was equipped with oxygen & pressurization sys. No audible warning was noted on ATC recordings to indc the cabin alt had exceeded 10,000', though the acft was equipped with such a device.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N331DP
- Reported as
- Learjet 23
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 067
- Engine
- GE CJ-610-4, 2,850 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Aero Smith Leasing, doing business as Aero Flight Services
- Departed
- YIP · Yplisanta, MI
- Destination
- SDF · Louisville, KY
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 168 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 330° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,100 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- DAY, 42 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.