- Date
- February 2, 1987, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Plaster City, CA
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3441CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 21, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870202001499A
- Case key
- 25514
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
During a local business flight the pilot was flying low, approximately 50 ft AGL, and slow with 30 degrees of flaps extended to take aerial photographs of a motorcyclist on the ground. Upon completing a 360 degree turn to the left, the aircraft flew through its own wake, stalled and began losing altitude. The pilot added power and retracted the flaps. The aircraft then collided with the terrain and nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3441C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26484
- Airframe hours
- 4,343
- Engine
- Franklin 6A35OC2, 215 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Lowell R. Schoonmaker
- Registered owner
- Lowell R. Schoonmaker
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Unknown · April 1, 1986 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- 9L4 · El Centro, 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,819 total · 2,417 in this make and model · 2,771 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IPL, 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.