- Date
- September 15, 1990, 10:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- Aberdeen, SD
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N73059Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900915039649A
- Case key
- 14554
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
Failure to maintain a safe airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin.
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 was buzzing a farmer's sunflower fields to chase away the blackbirds which were eating the sunflower seeds. He had been doing this daily for two weeks. Witnesses reported that the aircraft was operating at approximately 50-75 feet when it started a climb to approximately 100 feet. The aircraft then entered a spin and impacted nose down in the sunflower field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N73059
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17267254
- Airframe hours
- 4,563
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wayne H. Rexinger
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 8, 1990 · 118 hours before
- Departed
- ABR · Aberdeen, SD
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 565 total · 218 in this make and model · 497 as pilot in command · 82 in the last 90 days · 63 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABR, 15 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.