- Date
- January 4, 1990, 03:35 local (09:35 UTC)
- Place
- Hammond, LA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3531SCessna 172E
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900104000629A
- Case key
- 23090
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
Pilot in command's initiation and continuation of the flight into an area of known IMC weather conditions and his subsequent inability to land prior to running out of fuel. Contributing factors to the accident were the pilot's failure to exercise good judgement and his disregard for the federal air regulations.
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 student pilot received two weather briefings during which he was told at first that his route of flight was marginal VFR and later that it had gone IFR. In both cases, he was told that VFR was not recommended. In a post-accident interview the pilot stated that marginal weather did not bother him and that he knew 'how to fly in the clouds'. About 2:10 after departure, the pilot contacted new orleans approach control and requested assistance in getting to his destination airport. He was told that all of the airports in the area were IFR. During the next 1:38 controller attempted to vector the pilot to airports in the area in attempts to get the airplane down. Another airplane assisted in these efforts, but in each case, the pilot was unable to locate the airports due to the thick undercast conditions. While being vectored for an ILS, the pilot reported that his engine quit due to fuel exhaustion. He was unable to glide to the airport and crashed into trees about 8 miles short.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3531S
- Reported as
- Cessna 172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17250731
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dawe, John R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TCL · Tuscaloosa, AL
- Destination
- NEW · New Orleans, LA
- Airport
- OR9 · Hammond Muni, runway 18, 5,001 × 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 67 total · 20 in this make and model · 24 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 140° at 6 knots
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BTR, 20 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.