- Date
- July 19, 1996, 11:34 local (18:34 UTC)
- Place
- Midas, NV
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1958DCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960719018819A
- Case key
- 29513
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 decision of the pilot to perform a low-level steep turn which resulted in an inadvertent loss of control and subsequent stall/spin. Factors were high density altitude and inadequate altitude for recovery.
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 entered a steep turn at a low altitude in preparation for an off-airport landing. The pilot inadvertently stalled the airplane with insufficient altitude for recovery. The elevation of the landing area was about 5,500 feet msl.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 1996, at 1134 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 172, N1958D, collided with terrain after an in-flight loss of control near Midas, Nevada. The airplane was destroyed by postimpact fire. The pilot received fatal injuries. The airplane was being operated as a personal flight when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The accident airplane was one of two flying from McCall, Idaho, to Perris, California, with undetermined en route stops. The other airplane was being flown by the accident pilot's father. The father's airplane was experiencing engine problems and the father made an off-airport precautionary landing in an open field.
The father stated that he got out of the airplane with the engine problem and expected his son to land. He observed his son's airplane in a steep turn at a low altitude. He reported that his son appeared to lose control and descend until impacting the ground.
The elevation of the accident area was about 5,500 feet mean sea level (msl). The density altitude was estimated to be in excess of 7,000 feet msl at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1958D
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36519
- Engine
- Continental O-300A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wolff, Siegfried J
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MYL · Mccall, ID
- Destination
- L65 · Perris, 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 120 total · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BOI, 177 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.