- Date
- October 2, 1994, 20:00 local (Oct 3, 1994, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Greenwood, MS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N65454Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report April 7, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941002032429A
- Case key
- 37682
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 student pilot's improper planning/decision concerning the selection/approach/execution of the emergency landing. Factors related to the accident were: the pilot's lack of experience, his becoming lost/disoriented, the light conditions at dusk, and the proximity of trees to the selected emergency landing area.
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 student pilot was on the second leg of a solo cross-country flight when he became lost and disoriented. As the fuel level was getting low and darkness was approaching, he elected to land on a road. The pilot stated that during the landing, there was insufficient space to stop, so he steered the aircraft to the left, but it collided with a tree before stopping.
Factual narrative
On October 2, 1994, about 2000 central daylight time, N65454, a Cessna 152, registered to Allen Leasing Inc., crashed on landing to a road in Greenwood, Mississippi. The flight was a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a local VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the student pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Tupelo, Mississippi, about 1710 the same day.
The student pilot was on his first solo cross-country flight and became lost and disoriented. He was low on fuel and attempted a landing on an open road. During the landing he lost control of the airplane and it struck a tree.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65454
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 81561
- Airframe hours
- 4,244
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Air Venture Corp.
- Registered owner
- Allen Leasing Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 1994 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- TUP · Tupelo, MS
- Destination
- OLV · Olive Branch, MS
- 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
- 35
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 34 total · 33 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GWO, 23 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.