- Date
- December 2, 1992, 12:05 local (17:05 UTC)
- Place
- Ocala, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5324MCessna 152
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921202048689A
- Case key
- 33169
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 pilot-in-command becoming lost and disoriented and his failure to maintain altitude.
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
Student pilot received an in-person weather briefing at the FAA fss at 0919 for a VFR cross country-flight to an arpt 70 miles north of his departure point. VFR conditions were forecast along the route of flight. At 1014, the student's flight instructor filed a VFR flight plan but did not request updated weather information. At 1117, the student departed. At about 1200, the student was observed to make a touch-and-go at the dest arpt and depart to the south. After this, several witnesses overheard an unidentified acft talking on the dest arpt UNICOM frequency to a pilot who was lost in rain showers. The lost pilot had a foreign accent as did the student in N5324M. At 1500, the wreckage of N5324M was located near Ocala, Florida, 7 nautical miles northeast of the destination airport. The acft's hobbs meter indicated the acft had flown 1 hour since departure. The weather at Ocala at the time of the accident was instrument meteorological conditions in rain showers, low ceilings and visibility. Examination of the acft after the accident revealed no evidence of failure or malfunction of the acft structure, flight controls, or engine. After the student received his weather briefing at 0915, an area of unforecast showers developed to the north of his dest arpt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5324M
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15284533
- Airframe hours
- 6,806
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Delta Aircraft Corporation, doing business as National Aviation Academy
- Registered owner
- Delta Aircraft Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 16, 1992 · 68 hours before
- Departed
- PIE · Clearwater, FL
- Destination
- X35 · Dunnellon, FL
- Flight plan
- 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
- 25
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 51 total · 51 in this make and model · 7 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OCF, 3 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.