- Date
- November 8, 2020, 16:11 local (Nov 9, 2020, 00:11 UTC)
- Place
- Arch Cape, OR
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1444VCessna 172
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FSDO
- Case key
- 102331
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 descent into the ocean for reasons that could not be determined.
Findings · 1
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
A witness, located on the shoreline, about three quarters of a mile from the accident site, reported that she observed the accident airplane arrive from the south and started to slowly reduce its altitude as it neared her position. The airplane appeared to be in controlled flight in its descent and the engine RPM was consistent with a cruising flight sound. The airplane continued to descend until it struck the water just before Falcon Rock, a large, exposed rock located offshore. A large wave crashed over the airplane, and it disappeared under the water. The wreckage was not located. The pilot is presumed fatally injured and the airplane destroyed. A friend of the pilot reported that the pilot was diagnosed with a terminal illness and added that the pilot did not want to be in a hospital or a care facility and preferred to die in his house or his airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1444V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (K)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R1722192
- Built
- 1977
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hans R. Hoppe
- Registered owner
- Hans R. Hoppe
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TMK · Tillamook, OR
- Destination
- Same as departure
- 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
- Pilot
- Age
- 79
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 725 total · 725 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- KTMK, 26 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 3, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 756 KB in all.
Other investigations on N1444V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.