- Date
- July 6, 1986, 03:30 local (10:30 UTC)
- Place
- Havasu Lake, CA
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N80503Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 7, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860706030119A
- Case key
- 24924
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
At about 2100 PDT on 7/5/86, the flt departed lake Havasu city, AZ for an unkn destn. On the next morning at aprx 0330, witnesses, who were fishing on lake Havasu, heard the acft circle twice, then crash about 2 mi west of the arpt on the California side of the lake. The wx was clear & it was a dark night. There was evidence the acft impacted in a steep dscnt; it moved only about 20' after impact & there was extensive damage to the nose & fwd fuselage. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was fnd. Toxicology tests of the plt & 2 of the pax were positive for benzoylecgonine & cocaine. For benzoylecgonine, the plt's blood, liver & kidney tissue tested 0.46 microgram/milliliter, 0.58 microgram/gram & 1.3 micrograms/gram, respectively. For cocaine, his liver & kidney tissue tested 0.01 & 0.23 microgram/gram, respective-ly. The plt possessed a student license that had expired. Three of the 4 pax were occupying the 2 rear seats.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80503
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266624
- Airframe hours
- 3,808
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jim Kuhn, doing business as Bermuda Air Service
- Registered owner
- John H. Lyman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 27, 1986
- Destination
- LHU · Lake Havasu Cty, AZ
- Airport
- LHU · Lake Havasu City
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
- 32
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 450 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 200° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAS, 123 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.