- Date
- March 21, 1991, 09:05 local (14:05 UTC)
- Place
- Simsbury, CT
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4117NCessna 120
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910321007889A
- Case key
- 36784
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 intentional flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident were psychological conditions.
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 missing airplane was found 10 days after it departed, crashed in a state forest. The pilot was found dead lying next to the airplane. One passenger, his wife, was found dead in the right front seat. According to the medical examiner's autopsy report, the pilot's death was 'due to acute ethanol intoxication' and the 'final manner of death was suicide.' The autopsy report on the passenger revealed her death was due to 'gunshot wounds of head' and the 'manner of death was homicide.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4117N
- Reported as
- Cessna 120
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 13575
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Korsen, Richard
- Registered owner
- Korsen, Richard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Destination
- NK09 · Burdett, NY
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
- 55
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- POU, 60 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.