- Date
- November 17, 1988, 00:58 local (08:58 UTC)
- Place
- Fremont, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6256FCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881117050749A
- Case key
- 26191
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 newly certificated private plt reportedly was emotionally disturbed about his employment & personal life situation. He loved flying & flew to release anxiety. Near midnight the plt departed for a short x-c flight during which he became disoriented. The plt requested & received radar vectors back to his departure airport. Controllers said that the pilot sounded irrational and they observed the acft fail to hold heading & altitude. The acft entered a rapid descent and collided with the ground, coming to rest in a near vertical nosedown pitch attitude. On the pilot's application for a medical certificate he had denied any record of traffic convictions. However, at the time of his aplication he was on probation & had a history of convictions for drunk driving. The tox report indicated that the pilot's vitreous fluid ethanol level was 0.23 percent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6256F
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17273174
- Airframe hours
- 6,127
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-H2AD, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Squadron Two Flying Club, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Gary W. Niva
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 1988
- Departed
- SJC · 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
- 32
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 130 total · 31 in this make and model · 78 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SJC, 12 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.