- Date
- April 20, 2003, 20:44 local (Apr 21, 2003, 02:44 UTC)
- Place
- Red Owl, SD
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N93564Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Rapid City FSDO, Cessna Aircraft Company
- FAA report
- 20030420005719A
- Case key
- 56876
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 not maintaining aircraft control during initial climb-out, resulting in the encountered stall.
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
Witnesses described the airplane departing a private airstrip, enter a turn and then suddenly descend to the ground in a nose-down/tail-up attitude. The student pilot reported that he had no memory of the accident flight. The pilot's last 90-day solo endorsement was on September 20, 2002. He reported his total flight time as 125.4 hours, of which 112.7 hours were in the accident airplane make and model. No anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine that could be associated with any pre-impact condition.
Factual narrative
On April 20, 2003, at 2044 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 152, N93564, owned and piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with terrain near Red Owl, South Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The local flight originated from the pilot's private airstrip near Red Owl, South Dakota, at an unconfirmed time.
The student pilot reported that he has no memory of the accident flight. He stated that his daughters witnessed his airplane takeoff from his private airstrip, enter a turn and then suddenly descend to the ground.
According to an inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration, the witnesses described the tail of the airplane pointed up and the nose of the airplane pointed down prior to the impact with the terrain.
The student pilot's last 90-day solo endorsement was on September 20, 2002. The pilot reported his total flight time as 125.4 hours, of which 112.7 hours were in the Cessna 152.
No anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine that could be associated with any pre-impact condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93564
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15285515
- Airframe hours
- 8,506.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 13, 2003 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- PVT · Red Owl, SD
- Destination
- PVT · Red Owl, SD
- Airport
- PVT · Private Airstrip
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
- 45
- Injuries
- Serious
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- September 20, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 125 total · 113 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 330° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- D07, 33 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.