- Date
- September 29, 1983, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tulelake, CA
- Injuries
- 3 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6089FCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830929068319A
- Case key
- 23866
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 plt reported that he made a low pass over the medicine lake area, then after circling for a few minutes, he climbed back to 7500 ft, established 2000 RPM & 70 KTS, & continued the flt. Appx 5 min later, he noticed that the trees appeared to be getting closer. He checked his vertical velocity indicator & noted a 200 ft/min descent. He then applied full throttle, but did not notice the RPM increase & continued to lose altitude. Subsequently, the acft collided with a tree & crashed at an elevation of about 6000 ft. during the investigation, the eng was examined & run on a portable test stand & it operated normally. The density altitude of the crash site was estimated to be 8300 ft. reportedly, the temp & dew point in the area were 63 & 32 deg, respectively. According to icing probability charts, visible carb icing was possible at rated power. Also, updrafts & downdrafts were common in the area & were reported by other plts.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6089F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273145
- Airframe hours
- 526
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Enterprise Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Kent Blankenburg
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 17, 1983 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- Q93 · Enterprise, 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 100 total · 17 in this make and model · 73 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LMT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.