- Date
- March 17, 1989, 07:50 local (13:50 UTC)
- Place
- Galveston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5280RCessna 172M
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890317004099A
- Case key
- 22847
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient airspeed, which resulted in a stall and loss of control. Contributing factors were: the weather conditions, which were below minimums, and failure of the pilot to perform a missed approach.
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
After being clrd for an ILS rwy 13 apch to scholes field, the acft crashed aprx 75 yds north of the rwy & came to rest inverted on a hdg of 330 deg. There was extensive damage to the eng & prop, & the fuselage was broken aft of the cockpit, but the wings & empennage were relatively intact. Altho, both occupants survived the acdnt, the plt was unable to remember the occurrence due to his injuries. An investigation revealed the wx had been varialble. At 0656 CST, when the plt 1st ctcd houston apch ctl, the Galveston wx was in part: indefinite ceiling, 100' obscd, vis 3/16 mi with fog. At 0718, the plt was adzd of new wx which was in part: sky partially obscd, 300' thin scattered, ceiling 800' ovc, vis 3/4 mi with fog. At 0736, the plt was adzd of a spcl wx OBS, which was in part: sky partially obscd, 300' thin scattered, 800' ovc, vis 3/16 mi with fog. A subsequent wx OBS (not avail to plt when he was clrd for the apch at 0742) was in part: 300' obscd, vis 1/16 mi with fog. Wx mins for the ILS apch were: 200' ceiling & 1/2 mi vis.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5280R
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263494
- Airframe hours
- 3,510
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Adolphsen, Wayne E.
- Registered owner
- Adolphsen, Wayne E
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 23, 1988 · 140 hours before
- Departed
- SHV · Shreveport, LA
- Destination
- GLS
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- GLS · Scholes Field, runway 13, 6,001 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 955 total · 760 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 10 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GLS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.