Cessna A152 N234ZN

Summary

On 8 December 1987 at about 20:35 local time, a Cessna A152 registered N234ZN was involved in an accident near Benson, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

8 December 1987 at 20:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Benson, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

32.1899, -110.3809

Aircraft

Cessna A152

Registration

N234ZN

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Las Cruces

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN88FA036

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

ABT 20 MIN AFTER TKOF, THE ACFT CRASHED IN VMC CONDS, APRX 26 MI ALONG THE ROUTE FM TUCSON TO LAS CRUCES. INITIAL IMPACTOCCURRED WITH THE L WING HITTING THE TOP OF A YUCCA PLANT AS THE ACFT WAS IN A SLGT NOSE DOWN, L WING LOW ATTITUDE. JUSTBYD THIS POINT, THE ACFT CONTACTED THE GND & SKIDDED ABT 90' BFR HITTING A SCRUB TREE & COMING TO REST WITH EXTSV DMG. THE THROTTLE WAS FND AT IDLE, MIXTURE AT IDLE-CUTOFF, CARB HEAT WAS OFF & THE FLAPS WERE EXTDD 10 DEG. NO PREIMPACT MECHPRBLM WAS FND. THE ENG RAN NORMALLY DRG AN OPNL CHECK. NO WITNESSES WERE FND. A CAMERA WAS FND WITH FILM EXPOSED ON A PREV FLT. AFTER DVLPMNT, IT HAD IN-FLT PHOTOS OF A TRUCK & A TRAIN TAKEN NR GND LVL. THE TRAIN WAS IDENTIFIED. ITS CREW RECALLED SEEING AN ACFT MAKING LOW PASSES AT THE TRAIN EARLIER THAT DAY (COINCIDING WITH THE PLT'S PREV FLT). PEOPLE, WHO KNEW THE PLT, SAID HE SPOKE OF 'DIVE BOMBING' SEMI-TRUCKS & TRAINS, FLYING UNDER PHONE LINES, LNDG AFTER INTENTIONALFUEL EXHAUSTION & MAKING A LNDG IN THE DESERT. ACDNT SITE WAS NR A RAILROAD, INTERSTATE HIWAY & MOVIE SET (OLD TUCSON).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.