- Date
- August 22, 1989, 21:00 local (Aug 23, 1989, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Clear Lake, MN
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N80357Cessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890822031489A
- Case key
- 34854
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's improper decision in attempting to land with inadequate visual cues which precluded identification of a correct runway alignment. A suitable alternative airport was readily available.
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 pilot said that she returned to the destination airport later than planned and night landing conditions existed on arrival. The sod runway had only two lights on the end of the runway to aid night operations. The pilot said if she was unable to land, she would return to st. cloud, a full facility airport, about 10 miles from there. She said that she thought she could see the outline of the sod airstrip, so elected to land. The aircraft landed to the side of the runway in a soft bean field during the landing roll it nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80357
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266546
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Leaders Flying Service, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- BRD · Brainerd, MN
- Destination
- 8Y6 · Clear Lake, MN
- Airport
- 8Y6 · Leaders, runway 36, 3,000 × 125 ft, grass/turf
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
- 19
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 104 total · 40 in this make and model · 37 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 320° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Observed at
- STC, 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.
Other investigations on N80357 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.