- Date
- August 6, 1989, 10:56 local (16:56 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N64263Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890806027309A
- Case key
- 17601
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 deliberately flew his aircraft into the face of a mountain. A contributing factor was: the psychological condition of the pilot.
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
Drg the flt, the acft flew into the west face of the sandia mountains at about the 9000 ft level. Before the collision, the student pilot contacted Albuquerque apch control & stated that he was flying eastbound over the rio grande river & was going into the west side of the mountains. He requested that his friend in Missouri be called & provided the phone number as well as spelling the names of his friend & himself. When the controller inquired about the nature of the problem, the plt did not specify. Later, a suicide note was found at the plt's home & friends reported he had been very despondent since separation from his wife in March 1989.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64263
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265136
- Airframe hours
- 1,728
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robin & Vernon L. Kary
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 1988 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- 4AC · Albuquerque, NM
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 48 total · 42 in this make and model · 1 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ, 13 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.