- Date
- August 28, 1990, 11:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Provincetown, MA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N24894Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900828037029A
- Case key
- 36724
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 pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted an inadvertent stall/spin. Probable factors related to the accident were: failure of the pilot to follow procedures/directives, and his lack of proper certification (qualification) for this flight.
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 & an observer were engaged in a fish spotting mission. Witnesses on a boat observed the airplane maneuver & then enter into a spin. It impacted in the water before the pilot was able to recover. Bodies of the occupants were found several weeks later. A toxicology check of the pilot's blood showed an ethanol level of 34 mg/ml (o.O34%), but no alcohol was found in his urine. The blood/alcohol was believed to be from putrefaction. The owner of the aircraft reported the pilot held a student pilot certificate & was endorsed for cross-country flight; however, a search of the FAA airman & medical records revealed no current student pilot certificate/medical certificate.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N24894
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280437
- Airframe hours
- 1,800
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Mike Bello
- Registered owner
- Alton Emery
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1990 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- 2B1 · Marston Mills, MA
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
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Unknown
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.