- Date
- September 8, 1983, 02:30 local (09:30 UTC)
- Place
- Newport Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N734RLCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830908047009A
- Case key
- 23506
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
About 30 mins before the accident, the two plts stopped by a hangar to say hello to an individual. This person reported that the plt appeared to be intoxicated; his speech was slurred, he couldn't focus his eyes on things very easily & he giggled a lot. The plts took off from the arpt at about 0215. At about 0230 a witness reported she heard an acft roar very low over her residence traveling toward the ocean. She said the acft lit up her bedroom. At 0241 police were notified of an acft crashing into the ocean. Both wings exhibited severe chordwise accordioning. The pic's blood alcohollevel was 0.07%. The other pax/plt had a spleen alcohol level of 0.09% & the tox showed evidence of phenytoin.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N734RL
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17269054
- Airframe hours
- 2,200
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Greg Axton And Don Glascock
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 23, 1983 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- Santa Ana, CA
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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 345 total · 49 in this make and model · 280 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 315° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LGB, 16 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.