- Date
- July 9, 1989, 22:00 local (Jul 10, 1989, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Napa, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N77969Luscombe 8A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890709066709A
- Case key
- 26519
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
Suicide.
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
On the evening of 7/9/89 the pilot telephoned friends. He was reported to be despondent, indicated that he was going to kill himself, and stated that he was going to crash his aircraft in the center of lake berryessa so as to not hurt anyone. The pilot and his aircraft were reported missing on 7/10/89. A suicide letter was subsequently found in his residence. The wreckage and pilot were found 10/8/91 in 45 ft of water near the center of the lake.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N77969
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3696
- Engine
- Continental A65, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard A. Bryson
- Departed
- 045 · Vacaville, CA
- Destination
- 045
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 45 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.