- Date
- November 14, 1989, 18:18 local (Nov 15, 1989, 00:18 UTC)
- Place
- Slidell, LA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7351NCessna 182P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891114050349A
- Case key
- 23003
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's initiation of the flight into known adverse weather conditions which resulted in spatial disorientation and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude over the water. Factors were: darkness and the adverse weather conditions that prevailed.
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 received a complete weather briefing about 30 minutes before taking off at night. He elected to depart VFR without a flight plan into an area of thunderstorms. Subsequently, the airplane flew into a bay of the gulf of Mexico about 29 miles from the point of departure. Recorded radar data and an exam of the wreckage revealed evidence that the aircraft was in a descending right turn when it impacted in the bay. No preimpact mechanical problem was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7351N
- Reported as
- Cessna 182P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18263135
- Airframe hours
- 1,815
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James A. Wysocki
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1989
- Departed
- NEW · New Orleans, LA
- Destination
- CAE · Columbia, SC
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,300 total · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 190° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,100 ft overcast
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- NEW, 29 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.