- Date
- August 3, 1990, 12:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer Township, PA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal; on the ground: 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N18030Cessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900803030029A
- Case key
- 36544
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 failure of the student pilot to maintain airspeed which resulted in a stall/spin with insufficient altitude for recovery. Factors which contributed to the accident were: the student pilot's poor judgement in buzzing a residential area, and his lack of aeronautical experience.
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 his second solo out of the traffic pattern. According to his flight instructor he was to go to the practice area and work on high altitude maneuvers. Instead, he went to a residential area where his grandparents lived, and circled their house and a local swimming pool where friends were. Altitude reports ranged from 150 ft to 300 ft AGL. He was observed to pull up, then fall off on one wing, enter a spin and strike a car backing out of a driveway. Witnesses indicated he had told several people on the night preceding the accident that he would fly by the swimming pool and his grandparents house the next day.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N18030
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15073745
- Airframe hours
- 3,264
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- American Flight Academy
- Departed
- ABE · Allentown, PA
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 18
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 18 total · 17 in this make and model · 3 as pilot in command · 17 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABE, 8 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.