- Date
- June 25, 1989, 09:37 local (13:37 UTC)
- Place
- Caesars Head, SC
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N53667Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890625018659A
- Case key
- 11461
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient airspeed while flying over rising terrain, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and collision with wooded terrain. Factors related to the accident were: the terrain conditions and failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient altitude over mountainous terrain.
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
Before takeoff, the CFI plt rprtd he would be depg on a sightseeing flt. On the next day, the acft was rprtd as missing & a search was initiated. It was located on 6/29/89, where it had crashed on mountainous terrain. Radar data indcd the acft was traveling down a valley & had turned toward rising terrain. Subsequently, it crashed on wooded, mountainous terrain at an elevation of about 2000 ft & burned. An exam of the wreckage failed to reveal any mechanical failure/malfunction that would have resulted in an acdnt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53667
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17274798
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cornerstone Aviation
- Registered owner
- Bob Jone University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 21, 1989
- Departed
- GMU · Greenville, SC
- Airport
- GMU
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 871 total · 370 in this make and model · 757 as pilot in command · 169 in the last 90 days · 72 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL, 25 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.