- Date
- April 26, 1991, 17:00 local (Apr 27, 1991, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sumpter, OR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N970MACessna 150H
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910426012849A
- Case key
- 41314
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 inflight planning and decisions and the pilot's VFR flight into IMC 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 pilot of the Cessna 150 departed la grande Oregon without obtaining a weather briefing. Weather at his departure point was VFR. Weather at his destination was obscured with no discernable ceiling. The aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain near the bottom of a river drainage. The engine fired on residual fuel while investigators were checking compression.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N970MA
- Reported as
- Cessna 150H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15067550
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ellis E. Speer
- Registered owner
- Ellis E. Speer
- Departed
- LGD · La Grande, OR
- Destination
- 5J0 · John Day, OR
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 300 total · 275 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- 5J0, 30 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.