- Date
- September 10, 1983, 11:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2309ECassutt 3-M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830910047789A
- Case key
- 23505
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 acft collided with a street lamp while pulling up from a low pass over a dry river bed. This experimental amateur built acft was operating outside the prescribed boundaries for this acft. Witnesses disagreed on the engine sounds. Somedescribed the engine as loud and strong. Others said it was sputtering and missing. All agreed that the acft flew low (about 50-75 ft AGL) over the riverbed. After the accident both fuel tank indicators read empty. The main fuel tank was punctured. The aux tank contained about 1/8 gallon of fuel. No fueling information could be obtained. The fueling facility at falcon field had no record of any purchase by the plt. The propeller was metal and presented extreme twisting with multiple undifferentiated gouges and scratches both blades were bent foward and the top of one blade was missing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2309E
- Reported as
- Cassutt 3-M
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 12345
- Airframe hours
- 83
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John C. Ffield
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · June 16, 1983 · 11 hours before
- Departed
- P16 · Mesa, AZ
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,000 total · 13 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 45 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PHX, 15 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.