- Date
- February 16, 1992, 03:15 local (08:15 UTC)
- Place
- White Lake, NY
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6559FCessna 150
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report January 4, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920216003159A
- Case key
- 37054
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 to fly into known adverse weather conditions, his failure to maintain control of the airplane, and his impairment of judgement due to drugs. Factors which contributed to the accident were: the dark night, the adverse weather conditions, the pilot's lack of instrument flying experience, and his overconfidence in his flying ability.
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
A witness on duty at the airport heard an airplane circling very low overhead; it made several circles & then the sound ceased. She said the weather was 'very, very foggy', and heard several 'clicks' similar to the activation of an airplane microphone. The wreckage was found 2/19 aprx 300 ft north of the approach end of rwy 33. The pilot's 'memo' book showed that he had practiced loran approaches to the airport. The pilot's CFI endorsement for solo flight had expired 3/19/90. The airplane had been earlier impounded & chained by a federal marshall as a result of an incident wherein the pilot had landed at the airport twice during the hours of darkness without a clearance from the control tower or any other radio communications. The pilot's toxicological tests detected cocaine in the urine, and benzoylecgonine in the urine (43.300 ug/ml), blood (0.390 ug/ml), liver (0.394 ug/ml) and kidney (0.207 ug/ml).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6559F
- Reported as
- Cessna 150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15063159
- Airframe hours
- 1,967
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert M. Lipani
- Registered owner
- Robert M. Lipani
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1989 · 108 hours before
- Departed
- Sussex, NJ
- Airport
- MSV · Sullivan County Intl, runway 33, 6,300 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 38
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 245 total · 200 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 210° at 4 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 36 °F
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 N6559F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.