- Date
- October 2, 1990, 04:50 local (08:50 UTC)
- Place
- Gorham, NH
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N98438Cessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19901002043949A
- Case key
- 36768
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
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, and his failure to maintain proper altitude while flying over mountainous terrain. Factors related to the accident were: darkness, mountainous terrain, and pilot fatigue.
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 airplane was being ferried to europe & was on a great circle route at night between syracuse, NY, & bangor, ME. The plane was in cruise flight at 5500 ft MSL, when it struck mt Washington. It was equipped with an auto pilot & loran c. according to the loran mfg, the airplane was within 1/2 mile of course & on heading at the time of the accident. The top of mt Washington was obscured; however, a witness 7 miles away saw the lights of the airplane & a fireball from the impact. The pilot had been awake for 22 hours, when the accident occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98438
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17276292
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D2J, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Van Bortel Aircraft, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 20, 1989 · 0 hours before
- Departed
- SYR · Syracuse, NY
- Destination
- BGR · Bangor, ME
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.