- Date
- April 17, 1994, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mount Vernon, OH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N22601Cessna 150H
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940417016179A
- Case key
- 8911
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 failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and collision with the ground. Factors were transmission wires and the pilot's inadequate inflight decision.
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 stated that during final approach, he realized that he had mistaken a drag strip for a runway. He said he initiated a go-around but there were wires at different heights across the drag strip and he had to maneuver above and below them. While maneuvering under and over the wires, the airplane stalled and collided with a guardrail and nosed over. The pilot stated that there were no airframe or engine anomalies prior to the accident. .
Factual narrative
On Sunday, April 17, 1994, about 1415 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150H, N22601, owned and operated by the pilot, collided with a guardrail during a aborted approach to a drag strip mistaken for a runway, near Mount Vernon, Ohio. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot stated that he was on a visual flight rules flight and was destined for the Knox County Airport in Mount Vernon, Ohio. He stated that he thought he spotted the airport and started his approach to land. The pilot stated that once he got close to the strip, he realized that it was a drag strip and not the airport's runway, and attempted to go-around. He stated that there were wires across the drag strip and he tried to maneuver the airplane below and above the wires. He stated, "...I tried to get back up, but ducking the electrical wires caused me to stall and hit [the] guardrail...." The pilot stated that there were no airframe or engine anomalies prior to the accident.
Examination of the accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane collided with a guardrail which ran along the side of the drag strip in a north-south direction. Scrape marks on the guardrail extended about 50 feet, running north to the south, and stopped at the inverted airplane. The inspector stated that there were about ten wires at different heights across the approached end of the drag strip.
The Knox County Airport has one runway, runway 10-28.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22601
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- C15068395
- Engine
- Continental O-200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Raymond Bolin, Jr.
- Registered owner
- Raymond Bolin, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 31, 1994
- Departed
- 4G3 · Alliance, OH
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
- 66
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 290 total · 70 in this make and model · 290 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MFD, 32 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.