- Date
- January 19, 1991, 20:30 local (Jan 20, 1991, 03:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mancos, CO
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7248SCessna 150H
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 18010
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Failure of the student pilot to follow procedures and directives by continuing the flight at night and subsequently encountering adverse weather conditions. Factors related to the accident were: darkness, the student's lack of experience, adverse weather conditions, and mountainous terrain.
Analysis
The student pilot was instructed to fly a preplanned cross-country flight to page, Arizona, and return to durango, Colorado, before sunset. He became lost and landed at cortez, Colorado. Instead of terminating the flight, he elected to takeoff at night and continue. Subsequently, he flew into snow showers, and the aircraft crashed on the west side of a mountain, while on a southeasterly heading.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7248S
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15067948
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Mark A. Smithback
- Registered owner
- Mark A. Smithback
- Departed
- CEZ · Cortez, CO
- Destination
- 5COO · Durango, CO
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 43 total · 42 in this make and model · 18 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
Other investigations on N7248S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.