- Date
- March 29, 1993, 20:10 local (Mar 30, 1993, 04:10 UTC)
- Place
- Dunsmuir, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N89174Cessna 152
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 10, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930329007979A
- Case key
- 27829
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
An inadvertent encounter with rain and icing conditions. Factors in this accident included environmental conditions consisting of rain, icing, and darkness, and the pilot's overconfidence in his abilities to deal with the encountered weather 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
After receiving a weather briefing, the commercial/instrument rated pilot, the sole occupant, departed on a night cross country flight over mountainous terrain. The forecasted weather conditions included scattered clouds at 4,000 to 6,000 feet, broken clouds at 8,000 feet with a freezing level of 7,000 feet. No flight plan was filed. No further contact with the airplane was found until the wreckage of the airplane was located 7 days after departure. Witnesses in the area of the accident reported continuous rain on the night of the accident. The last ntap radar data of the airplane showed a descent from 8,000 feet to 7,400 feet before contact was lost. A meteorological study of the accident area revealed areas of light rain with a freezing level of 6,300 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N89174
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15282660
- Airframe hours
- 6,663
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Palo Alto Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Minot, Thomas
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 1993
- Departed
- S03 · Ashland, OR
- Destination
- PAO · Palo Alto, 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
- 63
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 534 total · 24 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 160° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDD, 30 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.