- Date
- August 18, 2020, 23:30 local (Aug 19, 2020, 06:30 UTC)
- Place
- Quillayute, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N11513Cessna 150
- Defining event
- Unknown: Security/criminal event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Lead agency
- Other
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200818013489A
- Case key
- 101830
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 airplane’s descent into trees and subsequent impact with terrain for undetermined reasons.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
Law enforcement personnel reported that several witnesses observed an airplane flying low and circling around a housing complex and nearby woods for a short time before it crashed into the woods. The airplane was located the next day in wooded terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The student pilot was seriously injured and unable to make a statement as to the circumstances of the accident before he succumbed to his injuries. The owner/operator of the airplane reported that surveillance video revealed that the student pilot entered his building on the evening of the accident and took the logbooks and keys to the airplane. The owner reported to the county Sheriff’s Office that the airplane was stolen as the pilot did not have permission to be in the building or to operate the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11513
- Reported as
- Cessna 150 (L)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15075475
- Built
- 1973
- Engine
- Continental O-200 SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 0S9 · Port Townsend, WA
- Destination
- Quillayute, WA
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KUIL, 3 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 9, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 997 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.