- Date
- April 13, 1985, 02:11 local (08:11 UTC)
- Place
- Franklin, LA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N68303Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850413014479A
- Case key
- 21539
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
Acft crashed into a crawfish pond during a forced landing at night following a power loss as a result of fuel exhaustion. After departure, the plt contacted ARTCC and stated that his alternator was out. With center help, alternator was restored and plt cont'd flt. 2.3 hrs later, obviously lost, the plt called mayday stating his alt was out, low on gas and he was losing radios. At that time, he was 37 NM NE of acdt site and well north of course. Alt failure was caused by loose pin in alt to alt ctl unit connector, which dropped alt excitation fld. Plt had experienced alt problem on prev flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68303
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15282241
- Airframe hours
- 2,324
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Perry Flying Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 29, 1985 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- BPR · Beaumont, TX
- Destination
- PTN · Patterson, LA
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 197 total · 69 in this make and model · 117 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 40° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LFT, 30 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.