- Date
- July 31, 1992, 21:18 local (Aug 1, 1992, 03:18 UTC)
- Place
- Ruidoso, NM
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N337LSCessna 337A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920731028589A
- Case key
- 18156
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 experiencing spatial disorientation and the resultant excessive descent rate. Factors were: the dark night conditions.
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 cleared by ARTCC for a visual approach to runway 24. He advised UNICOM he was too high and would circle to land. An airport attendant saw the airplane's landing lights and watched it begin a left turn when it was over and halfway down the runway. The descent rate increased to a 'hard dive about 35 to 45 degrees' before disappearing into a ravine one mile south of the airport. Visual conditions prevailed but it was a dark night with no moon.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N337LS
- Reported as
- Cessna 337A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 337-0421
- Airframe hours
- 1,852
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-C/D, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lovelace, John C. & B.J.
- Registered owner
- Lovelace, John C. & B.J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 4, 1992
- Departed
- LBB · Lubbock, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SRR · Sierra Blanca Regional
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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 459 total · 33 in this make and model · 408 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 160° at 1 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRR, 1 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.