- Date
- September 29, 1989
- Place
- Nyssa, OR
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8055GCessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890929037189A
- Case key
- 40937
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
Failure of the pilot to attain sufficient altitude before flying over mountainous/hilly terrain. Factors related to the accident were: dark night, rising/mountainous terrain, and probable impairment from a prescription drug.
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 acft depd nampa arpt at about 1630 LCL time. There was evidence the plt had landed at an unattended strip near owyhee reservoir & that the occupants had deplaned for a time. Early the next morning at 0118 hrs, an ELT signal was detected in the area. A search was initiated after daybreak & the acft was fnd where it had impacted about 100 ft below the top of a ridge, aprx 1 mi west of the strip. Elevation of the strip was 2680 ft. elevation of the crash site was about 3350 ft. the acft was extensively damaged when it collided with about 20 deg rising terrain. The plt's urine tested positive for benzodiazepines. Tests showed his blood contained 0.09 mg/l diazepam & 0.11 mg/l nordiazepam. Therapeutic ranges of these substances were rprtd to be 0.02 to 2.0 mg/l for diazepam & 0.02 to 1.8 mg/l for nordiazepam.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8055G
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG0055
- Airframe hours
- 2,080
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard E. Brush
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 5, 1989 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- S67 · Nampa, ID
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,513 total · 18 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.