- Date
- August 13, 1989, 13:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- Pass-A-Grille, FL
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N99901Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890813028809A
- Case key
- 32307
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 recover from a stall/spin. Excessive gross weight of the aircraft and lack of available altitude for spin recovery were probable contributing factors.
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 acft was being used to demonstrate flt characteristics to cap cadets. Drg an off-shore flt over the gulf of Mexico, the acft entered a descent & crashed aprx 3 mi from land. A witness, who saw the acft just before impact, rprtd that it was spinning in a nose down attitude. The acft sank almost immediately in 28 ft of water. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft was found. A check of the weight & balance info showed the acft had been loaded aprx 114 lbs over its max wt limit. Radar data showed that just before the loss of radar contact, the plt had made two rapid 180 deg turns.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99901
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17276525
- Airframe hours
- 1,267
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 8, 1989
- Departed
- SPG · St Petersburg, FL
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 42
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 3,458 total · 245 in this make and model · 3,142 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 14 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SPG, 15 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.