- Date
- January 18, 1987, 22:15 local (Jan 19, 1987, 06:15 UTC)
- Place
- S Lake Tahoe, CA
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N123DJCessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870118002069A
- Case key
- 25373
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
After departing at night from south lake Tahoe, CA, the plt contacted ARTCC & requested radar flt following. A short time later, he declared an emergency & said he was reversing course with a loss of eng power. Radar & radio contact with the acft were lost as it was returning over mountainous terrain. Subsequently, the acft crashed into the west face of a mountain about 10 mi west of the dep arpt. Due to its remote location, the wreckage was not examined until it was recovered on 6/4/87. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found drg the investigation. The fuel selector valve was found in the off position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N123DJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG 1366
- Airframe hours
- 708
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Harold J. Maggard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 1986 · 277 hours before
- Departed
- TVL · S Lake Tahoe, CA
- Destination
- RHV · San Jose, 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 794 total · 239 in this make and model · 41 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 23 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO, 41 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.