- Date
- March 22, 1989, 14:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Corunna, MI
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N66688Cessna 150M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890322004359A
- Case key
- 14246
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain sufficient altitude to recover from a practice stall maneuver. A factor related to the accident was: the pilot's visual perception over snow covered 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
As the student pilot was practicing stalls, the aircraft entered a descent & collided with snow covered terrain. No known witnesses saw the aircraft before it impacted the ground, but a motorist saw a plume of snow. When he investigated the occurrence, he discovered the plane had crashed. The plt was still alive & strapped in the aircraft. He rprtd to paramedics, 'it was my fault, I was practicing stall . . .' Later, he succumbed to his injuries.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N66688
- Reported as
- Cessna 150M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15076211
- Airframe hours
- 4,142
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sabourin, Dennis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 25, 1988 · 85 hours before
- Departed
- 3DA · Flushing, MI
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 36 total · 36 in this make and model · 10 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 12 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAN, 23 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 N66688 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.