- Date
- January 2, 1988, 08:04 local (13:04 UTC)
- Place
- Parkland, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N24480Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880102000029A
- Case key
- 32001
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Acft was seen descending in a near vertical dive at a high rate of speed with no rotation along the roll axis. The acft crashed nose first into a newly planted corn field. Post crash examination of the acft structure, flight controls, and engine revealed no evidence of precrash mechanical failure or malfunction. The investigation revealed that the pilot had experienced medical problems with cancer; his brother had died from cancer; his father had died three months before; and his mother-in-law, whom he was close to, recently had a stroke. The pilot's wife initially stated that she believed the pilot had intentionally killed himself. The pilot was on an unsupervised solo but had not been cleared out of the traffic pattern. The accident site was 11 miles from the airport. The medical examiner ruled the manner of death as suicide.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N24480
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280277
- Airframe hours
- 2,201
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Am. Avia. Trn. Ent., Inc., doing business as American Aviation
- Registered owner
- Fmc Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 15, 1987 · 77 hours before
- Departed
- FXE · Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 44 total · 42 in this make and model · 2 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FXE, 10 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.