- Date
- October 18, 1991, 15:31 local (22:31 UTC)
- Place
- Olancha, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N120MKCessna 120
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911018047139A
- Case key
- 27481
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall while on final approach. Factors were the high density altitude and the pilot's poor approach planning.
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 airplane departed controlled flight and hit the ground in a nose down attitude while on final approach for a short field landing. The pilot was attempting to land in a small field about 120 yards wide. The airplane was observed about 20 feet above ground level entering a left turn on short final approach to the field. The airplane's speed was described as slow. The airplane's nose was observed to pitch down rapidly. Another pilot indicated he saw the airplane stall. The accident site elevation was about 5,600 above sea level, and the outside air temperature was estimated as 85 deg f.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N120MK
- Reported as
- Cessna 120
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 13541
- Airframe hours
- 5,684
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Kaplan Michael A
- Registered owner
- Consulting Aerospace Engineer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 21, 1991 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,612 total · 779 in this make and model · 4,278 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots, gusting 5
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.