- Date
- May 25, 1989, 21:33 local (May 26, 1989, 01:33 UTC)
- Place
- Davie, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N65777Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 32315
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 in command to maintain adequate airplane control while entering an area of turbulence caused by wild fires on the ground beneath his flight path.
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 police officer/pilot flying the public use airplane on a night cross country instrument flight lost control of the airplane when he attempted to turn, and descend in an area of turbulence caused by wild fires on the ground. The pilot's last transmission was that he was in a 'deadmans spin'. Comparison of the pilots logbook with an airplane flight log revealed descrepancies. Therefore, the exact amount of flight experience which the pilot had could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65777
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-75880
- Airframe hours
- 1,720
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Operator
- City Of Fort Lauderdale
- Registered owner
- City Of Ft. Lauderdale
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 7, 1989 · 39 hours before
- Departed
- TLH · Tallahassee, FL
- Destination
- FXE · Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 591 total · 404 in this make and model · 48 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 170° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FXE, 11 nm away