- Date
- November 19, 1988, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Maria, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6883FCessna 150F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 29, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881119051469A
- Case key
- 26301
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 pleasure flight, the airplane was being flown along a ridgeline while the pilot and passenger were looking for an old airplane wreck. The pilot was distracted and did not notice the airplane was entering a canyon and rising terrain. When the pilots attention was brought back to the flight, there was not enough room to maneuver out of the canyon nor was there enough airspeed to climb over the terrain. The pilot maintained a straight heading and collided with trees and rising terrain. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6883F
- Reported as
- Cessna 150F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15063483
- Airframe hours
- 5,288
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sr-9 Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 22, 1988 · 88 hours before
- Departed
- SMX · Santa Maria, 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
- 20
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 531 total · 262 in this make and model · 472 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.