- Date
- March 30, 1988, 19:29 local (Mar 31, 1988, 01:29 UTC)
- Place
- Hope, AR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6534HCessna 172M
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880330006909A
- Case key
- 22546
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 non-instrument rated pilot initiated the flight into known adverse weather after being advised during a preflight weather briefing that VFR flight was not recommended. About 40 minutes before the crash, he called el dorado (Arkansas) radio and requested their weather from a position reportedly in the vicinity of the accident. Witnesses in the vicinity of the crash site reported that it was a dark night low ceiling prevailing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6534H
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265478
- Airframe hours
- 2,735
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Denton, Clarence W.
- Registered owner
- Lynn W Walker
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 2, 1987 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- RVS · Tulsa, OK
- Destination
- HEZ · Natchez, MS
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
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 232 total · 61 in this make and model · 165 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 70° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 600 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ELD, 40 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.