# NTSB WPR22FA227: Cessna 152, N934JH, Mendon, UT, June 24, 2022 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report - Date: June 24, 2022, 09:03 local (15:03 UTC) - Place: Mendon, UT - Coordinates: 41.68048, -111.96809 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.6805&lon=-111.9681&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Maneuvering: Aerodynamic stall/spin](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/241) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 2 fatal - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 3 - NTSB office: Western Pacific Region - Parties: FAA - ADs cited in the narratives: [AD 2009-10-09](https://openairdocs.org/ad/2009-10-09) (OpenAirDocs) - NTSB case key (mKey): 105346 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR22FA227 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/105346/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105346 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR22FA227 ## Probable cause The flight instructor’s failure to recover from a developed spin, which resulted in impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s decision to enter the maneuver below the operator’s altitude limitation. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 115 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Info processing/decision: decision making/judgment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 33 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 3,098 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041520/cases.md) - [Performance/control parameters](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 13 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 1,269 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062000/cases.md) - [Experience/qualifications: total experience w/ equipment](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031025): Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge · Instructor/check pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031025/cases.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 269 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02031025/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Maneuvering: Simulated/training event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/600); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/600/sequence.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 173 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/600/sequence.md) - [Maneuvering: Aerodynamic stall/spin](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/241) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 152, 13 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/241/sequence.md?model=2071835), [All aircraft, 1,529 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/241/sequence.md) ## Analysis The accident flight was intended to teach the flight instructor candidate how to enter, recognize, and recover from an aggravated stall wherein the airplane follows a corkscrew path. Before the accident maneuver, automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that several training maneuvers were performed with extraordinary directional changes greater than 180° or rapid descents in altitude. The rapid changes in altitude and recovery were consistent with stall or spin recovery maneuvers. Although there were no witnesses to the accident, surveillance video footage captured the airplane descending rapidly in a developed spin. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed that the airplane impacted terrain in a 45° nose-down attitude, with no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The operator’s training guidance stated that the minimum altitude to perform spin training was 9,500 ft mean sea level (msl). According to ADS-B data, the accident maneuver was entered about 9,100 ft msl, and the elevation at the wreckage site was 4,590 ft. According to the operator’s flight experience logs, the flight instructor accumulated 2 hours of flight experience learning how to spin the accident airplane. The fight instructors personal flight logs were not provided, and his total flight experience was not determined. According to the operator’s flight experience logs, the flight instructor candidate had no actual flight experience in the accident airplane make and model. The pilot under instruction's toxicology testing detected codeine and morphine in urine at low levels. These results could be explained by codeine use alone, although other potential explanations exist. Regardless, the pilot under instruction had no detectable codeine or morphine in his blood, which makes it unlikely that codeine or morphine effects contributed to the accident. ## Factual narrative The operator’s spin recovery training parameters are illustrated below: The Spin recovery needs to be briefed from the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM). Here are the parameters that will be briefed- • Minimum altitude to do the flight is 9,500-10,000 MSL. o 6,000 AGL is listed in the AFM for a 6-turn spin. o We will only do a 3-turn spin o After every spin you will climb back to the minimum altitude o 1,500 AGL is listed in the AFM as the lowest recovery altitude, we should never get this close during spins. • CFI will only do a power-off stall into a Spin as per the AC circular and CFI PTS. • CFI will do stall to the incipient phase and then the recovery. • Student will do stall to the incipient phase and then the recovery. • CFI will demonstrate the first 3-rotation spin and recovery • Student will perform the requisite 3-rotation spins to both directions and a total of 3 separate spins and recoveries. • If safety is ever in question, you will stop the training flight. The airplane manufacturer’s pilot operating handbook and approved AFM, provided the recovery method for spins within its normal procedures (see Figure 2). Figure 2. POH/AFM spin recovery training According to the AFM, for planning purposes at least 1,000 ft of altitude loss should be allowed for a 1-turn spin and recovery. Additionally, the AFM identified that spins are to be completed before reaching at minimum 1,500 ft agl. On June 24, 2022, about 0903 Mountain daylight time, a Cessna 152, N934JH, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident in Mendon, Utah. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. According to the flight school’s Chief Flight Instructor, the purpose of the accident flight was for the flight instructor to conduct spin training with the pilot receiving instruction, who was a flight instructor candidate. The accident airplane departed Logan-Cache Airport, in Logan, Utah, and traveled to Utah State University’s designated aviation practice area, about 10 nm southwest of the airport. According to ADS-B data, several training maneuvers were performed, with the duration of flight lasting nearly thirty minutes. Three maneuvers were performed with directional changes greater than 180° or rapid descents in altitude, consistent with spin training. ADS-B data indicated that the accident maneuver was entered about 9,100 ft msl (~4,510 ft agl). The elevation at the wreckage site was 4,590 ft. A review of surveillance footage showed the airplane in a fully developed left spin. When the airplane entered the surveillance video’s field of view, the airplane subsequently completed three rotations to the left, in a nose-down attitude, within a time span of about seven seconds, before disappearing from the camera view and impacting terrain. Figure 1: N934JH spin maneuver initiated An autopsy of the flight instructor was performedby the Utah Department of Health Office of the Medical Examiner, Taylorsville, Utah. According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was blunt force injuries and the manner of death was an accident. Toxicology testing performed on the flight instructor candidate by the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory found 206 µg/ml codeine and 71 µg/ml morphine in the urine. The pilot under instruction had no detectable codeine or morphine in his blood at the time of the crash. A review of the operator’s pilot logs for the flight instructor and flight instructor candidate receiving instruction revealed that most of their actual flight experience was acquired in a low-wing, four-seat, technically advanced airplane. The accident airplane was a high-wing, two-seat, analogue-gauge airplane. A review of the flight instructor’s pilot log provided by the operator indicated that he had acquired 348.9 hours of flight experience, with 2.4 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane. The pilot’s log revealed that he had acquired 1.1 hours of flight experience nine days before the accident flight, 0.9 hours three days before the accident flight, and 0.4 hours in the accident airplane, which was acquired on the ground before terminating the planned flight due to inclement weather. A review of the flight instructor candidate’s pilot log provided by the operator revealed that he had acquired 252.8 hours of flight experience, with 0.4 hours in the accident airplane, which was acquired on the ground before terminating the planned flight due to inclement weather. The personal flight logs for the flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction were not provided. According to a fuel invoice provided by the operator, the accident airplane was refueled with just over 6 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline on June 23, 2022. The wreckage was in a tall grass field located in an agricultural area. The aircraft impacted terrain about a 45° nose-down attitude. The cockpit was compressed upward and aft, decreasing cockpit volume. The wings remained connected to their respective wing attachment fittings. Both lift struts remained attached to the fuselage and the wings. The left- and right-wing root skins exhibited compression damage. Neither wing’s leading edge exhibited signs of impact compression damage, although the left-wing tip sustained impact damage. The aluminum fuel tanks remained intact. The right wing was bent upward approximately 10° outboard of the lift strut. The upper-wing skins exhibited wrinkles consistent with compression. The lower wing skins in the same area exhibited wrinkles consistent with tension. The empennage remained intact. The left horizontal stabilizer was bent downward approximately 10° about midspan. The manufacturer of the accident airplane issued a mandatory rudder stop modification identified as Single Engine Bulletin (SEB) 01-1. The service bulletin was mandated by Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2009-10-09and was complied with on the accident airplane and postaccident inspection revealed no anomalies. The purpose as stated in the bulletin was as follows: To provide an enhanced rudder stop, bumper, doubler and attachment hardware designed to assist in preventing the possibility of the rudder overriding the stop bolt during full left and/or right operation of the rudder. According to weight and balance calculations conducted by the flight instructor and validated by the investigator-in-charge, the airplane was operated within center-of-gravity limitations and within weight and balances tolerances. An examination of the airframe revealed no indications of flight control cable or control surface obstructions that would have prevented or restricted the normal operation of the flight controls. There was no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions observed during examination of the engine. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N934JH](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N934JH-2025-01-31), registration cancelled 2025-01-31, S/N 15283001, built 1978 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 152 - Registry model: [Cessna 152](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-152) (registry code 2071835) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG](https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (registry code 99999) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 15283001 - Year built: 1978 - Airframe hours: 4800.6 - Engines: Lycoming O-235-L2C 110 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Registered owner: Utah State University - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 22, 2021, 75.6 hours before - Departed: LGU, Logan, UT - Flight plan: Company VFR - Airport: NA - Equipment: ADS-B, Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 24; injuries: fatal; flight instructor, commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review June 18, 2020; seat: right; restraint: 3-point; toxicology performed; flight hours: 348.9 total, 2.4 in this make and model, 348.9 as pilot in command, 2.3 in the last 24 hours - Pilot; age 25; injuries: fatal; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review January 25, 2022; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; toxicology performed; flight hours: 252.8 total, 0.4 in this make and model, 213.6 as pilot in command, 1.4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 60° at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 68 °F, dew point 52 °F - Altimeter: 30.07 inHg - Observed at: KLGU, 8 nm away - METAR: METAR KLGU 241451Z AUTO 06004KT 10SM CLR 20/11 A3007 RMK AO2 SLP132 T02000106 52012= ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20220624007879A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20220624007879A), Jun 24, 2022: Cessna 152, Mendon, UT, Substantial damage, 2 fatal. A 14 CFR 141 flight school was the operator of the aircraft. The 141 schools director of aviation and chief flight instructor stated that the purpose of the… ## Docket (19 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 26, 2024, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105346. 55.9 MB in all. - N934JH dispatch record (item 1, PDF, 1 page, 160 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17042204&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=N934JH%20Dispatch%20Record-Rel.pdf - ADS-B radar returns (item 2, KMZ, 63 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17040161&FileExtension=kmz&FileName=20220624_ACF555_487539175_ADSB-Rel.kmz - Surveillance video (item 3, MP4, 3.5 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17041814&FileExtension=mp4&FileName=Aircraft%20crash%20doorbell%20camera%20video-Rel.mp4 - Operator spin awareness and recovery lesson (item 4, PDF, 2 pages, 171 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17041642&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Operator%20Spin%20Lesson-Rel.pdf - POH_AFM stall _ spin excerpts (item 5, PDF, 4 pages, 957 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17246928&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=POH_AFM%20Excerpts-Rel.pdf - N934JH maintenance records (item 6, PDF, 18 pages, 20.5 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17041237&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=N934JH%20Aircraft%20Records_Redacted-Rel.pdf - N934JH weight and balance (item 7, PDF, 4 pages, 1.6 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17120416&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Weight%20and%20Balance_Redacted-Rel.pdf - N934JH fuel invoice record (item 8, PDF, 1 page, 597 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17041227&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=N934JH%20Fuel%20Receipt_Redacted-Rel.pdf - N934JH airframe and engine examination (item 9, PDF, 9 pages, 484 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17108670&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=N934JH%20Airframe%20and%20Engine%20Examination-Rel.pdf - Photographs (item 10, PDF, 3 pages, 1.1 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17106875&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Photographs-Rel.pdf - Technical report (item 11, PDF, 9 pages, 3.0 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17119400&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Tech%20Report%2015283001_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Operator pilot log_CFI (item 12, PDF, 10 pages, 14.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17042043&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CFI%20Pilot%20Log%20-USU_Redacted-Rel.pdf - CFI accident airplane checkout written examination (item 13, PDF, 4 pages, 203 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17040801&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CFI%20Accident%20Airplane%20Checkout%20Exam_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Operator pilot log_CFI candidate (item 14, PDF, 6 pages, 8.4 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17042144&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CFI%20Candidate%20Pilot%20Log%20-USU_Redacted-Rel.pdf - CFI toxicology report (item 15, PDF, 1 page, 106 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17036280&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CFI%20Toxicology%20Report_Redacted-Rel.pdf - CFI candidate toxicology report (item 16, PDF, 2 pages, 150 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17037042&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=CFI%20Candidate%20Toxicology_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Medical factual memorandum for record (item 17, PDF, 3 pages, 143 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17045059&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=WPR22FA227_MedicalFactualMemo-Rel.pdf - Textron party member form (item 18, PDF, 1 page, 533 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17119390&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=Textron%20Party%20Member%20Form_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Lycoming party member form (item 19, PDF, 14 pages, 136 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17118321&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=NTSB%20party%20form_Lycoming-WPR22FA227_Redacted-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.