- Date
- March 24, 1988, 09:38 local (14:38 UTC)
- Place
- Servia, IN
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N7797QCessna 310Q
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880324006409A
- Case key
- 13935
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 induced overload to the airplane structure causing material failure of the airplane. Attempted flight into adverse weather, and spatial disorientation of the pilot, are contributing factors in this accident.
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
Witness's report a thunderstorm with heavy rain and lightning in the area when they observed the accident aircraft break up in flight. All witnesses report hearing unusual engine noises which they characterized as diving sounds, and observing parts of the aircraft break away as it descended into the ground. At the time of the accident the canadian citizen who was acting as pilot of the airplane was not certified for flight either by his own government or by the united states.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7797Q
- Reported as
- Cessna 310Q
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 407
- Airframe hours
- 4,539
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-E, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jay T. Brown
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1987 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- W74 · Havelock, NC
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
- 69
- Certificate
- Foreign
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,975 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.