- Date
- May 5, 1989, 20:15 local (May 6, 1989, 03:15 UTC)
- Place
- Port San Luis, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6301MCessna 152
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890505010879A
- Case key
- 26225
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot failed to execute a 180 degree turn and inadvertently entered into instrument meteorological conditions.
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 pilot departed san Luis obispo airport on a planned flight to santa barbara. The wx was VFR at sbp but there was fogaround the coastal area. Abt 9 minutes after departing sbp ground witnesses heard the airplane's engine in the vicinity of the crash site and the engine sound abruptly stopped. The Port San Luis harbor patrol officer then heard an ELT transmitter signal and initiated a search. The wreckage was found about 4 hours after the search was initiated. Ground scars and the wreckage examination disclosed the airplane struck the upward sloping terrain in a wings & nose level attitude. The examination further disclosed no evidence of any airplane component malfunctions or failures.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6301M
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284662
- Airframe hours
- 4,776
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Cal-Coast Flyers, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Zeman, Ronald
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 3, 1988 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- SBP · San Luis Obispo, CA
- Destination
- SBA · Santa Barbara, CA
- Airport
- SBP · San Luis Obispo
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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 87 total · 87 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N6301M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.