- Date
- February 23, 1983, 02:47 local (08:47 UTC)
- Place
- Pineville, LA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4862GCessna 172N
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830223005119A
- Case key
- 20704
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 owner, an instructor plt (CFI), was in the right front seat & a private plt with no instrument rating was in the left front seat. During arrival, the aircrew had inquired about the wx at the esler regional arpt, however, the fss & the UNICOM had closed earlier that night & current wx observations were not available. At that time, the england afb wx was clear, visibility 3 mi with fog. The aircrew elected to make an apch to 'see what it looks like.' During an ILS apch at night, the acft collided with trees. Initial impact occurred with a tree limb aprx 40 ft AGL. At aprx 0247 CDT, 2 witnesses heard the acft flying low over their homes, just before crashing. They reported the eng sounded normal prior to impact. One witness, a highway patrolman less than 150 yards from the crash site, reported the accident & initiated a search, but was delayed in finding the acft due to darkness & fog. The 0300 CDT wx at england afb was 600 ftovercast, partial obscuration with fog. The CFI had been awake since 0400 the prev day, contd trip to get back to work.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4862G
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273409
- Airframe hours
- 873
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mathis Lynn D.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 4, 1982 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- PFN · Panama City, FL
- Destination
- ESF · Alexandria, LA
- Airport
- ESF · Esler Regional, runway 26, 6,000 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 46
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 925 total · 155 in this make and model · 758 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 600 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AEX, 18 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.