- Date
- December 12, 1992, 16:05 local (Dec 13, 1992, 00:05 UTC)
- Place
- Wilsonville, OR
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N98489Cessna 421C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921212049839A
- Case key
- 42931
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-in-command's failure to maintain control of the aircraft.
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
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying in a normal cruise attitude when it rolled inverted and the nose dropped near vertical to the terrain. The airplane descended in a near vertical dive. The nose of the airplane started to come up horizontal to the terrain when it struck a 75-FT tree. During the post crash investigation, no evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98489
- Reported as
- Cessna 421C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 421C0067
- Airframe hours
- 2,474
- Engine
- Continental GTSIO-520L, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Higgins, Arthur B.
- Registered owner
- Fredericks, Richard R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 27, 1991 · 62 hours before
- Departed
- PDX · Portland, OR
- Destination
- 3S2 · Aurora, 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,138 total · 727 in this make and model · 4,037 as pilot in command · 48 in the last 90 days · 42 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 39 °F
- Observed at
- PDX, 18 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.