- Date
- June 28, 1988, 18:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ft Wayne, IN
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 2 serious; on the ground: 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4744XCessna 150G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880628023929A
- Case key
- 13947
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
Inadvertent stall/spin due to the failure to maintain adequate airspeed, and failure to avoid the adverse wind conditions associated with a thunderstorm.
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 instructor (CFI) & student bgn practicing touch-&-go (t&g) lndgs. At 1st, rwy 31 was in use. After the 1st t&g, the CFI told the student to chg to rwy 5 for more favorable wind conds. At abt that time, a cold fnt was mvg thru the area, a tstm was abt 5 mi nw of the arpt, the wx was getting windy & the CFI noted lgt rain on the windshield. Drg the climb after the 2nd t&g, the CFI noted the acft had stopped climbing at abt 200' AGL & took ctl of the acft. Later, he said the airspeed was abt 60 to 65 KTS (but the airspeed indcr was calibrated in mph). Concerned abt pwr lines ahd, he turnedthe acft. He then noticed it was dscndg rapidly & the speed was dwn to '55 or maybe even 50, without really changing thepitch angle.' The acft then banked left & entered a nose dwn attitude. It crashed into trees, 2 vehicles & the gnd, thenslid into a mobile home. Child nr mobile home was fatally injured. CFI thought flaps were retracted for tkof, but they were fnd extdd 15 deg. Cannabinoids fnd in plt's urine, but none fnd in his blood; urine/pentobarbital lvl, 0.40 mg/dl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4744X
- Reported as
- Cessna 150G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15064794
- Airframe hours
- 5,747
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- F.T Wayne Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 25, 1988 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- FWA · Ft Wayne, IN
- Airport
- SMD · Smith Field, runway 5, 3,110 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 635 total · 400 in this make and model · 550 as pilot in command · 160 in the last 90 days · 54 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 12 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FWA, 12 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.
Other investigations on N4744X · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.