- Date
- December 21, 1991, 16:52 local (Dec 22, 1991, 00:52 UTC)
- Place
- Ventura, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N69028Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911221057039A
- Case key
- 27396
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
The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate altitude above the ground to recover from an inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's handling of the aircraft specifically an excessive angle of attack which resulted in reduced airspeed and subsequent stall.
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
A Cessna 152 collided with sloping terrain while on an introductory flight lesson administered to a to a prospective pilot by a certified flight instructor (CFI). The airplane was observed at a low altitude in a steep climb. The airplane then descend vertically in a nose down attitude until it impacted the ground. One eye witness described the engine noise as loud without sputtering or stopping. The witness also indicated that the airplane did not appear to be trailing smoke as it descended. The wreckage was destroyed by a post impact fire. The CFI was certified about seven months before the accident and had accrued about 169 flight hours as a flight instructor. There was no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction noted during the wreckage examination.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69028
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 85344
- Airframe hours
- 4,535
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Channel Islands Aviation
- Registered owner
- Channel Islands Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 16, 1991 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- CMA · Camarillo, 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
- 29
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 540 total · 168 in this make and model · 431 as pilot in command · 138 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CMA, 8 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.