Cessna 170A N9101A

Summary

On 3 September 1988 at about 21:30 local time, a Cessna 170A registered N9101A, operated by Peterson, James R., was involved in an accident near El Paso, Texas, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 September 1988 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

El Paso, Texas, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 170A

Registration

N9101A

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Peterson, James R.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

El Paso → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW88FA160

4 people died.

PILOT'S IMPAIRMENT DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE FLT WAS RPRTD TO BE FOR A BIRD HUNTING EXCURSION. TWO WITNESSES RPRTD THEY SAW AN ACFT (MATCHING THE DESCRIPTION OF N9101A) FLYING ABOUT 50 TO 75 FT AGL & MANEUVERING. NO KNOWN WITNESSES SAW THE PLANE CRASH. WHEN IT DID NOT RETURN, A SEARCH WAS INITIATED. THE ACFT WAS FND THE NEXT MORNING WHERE IT HAD CRASHED ON NEAR LEVEL, DESERT TERRAIN. AN EXAM REVEALED THE ACFT HAD COLLIDED WITH THE GND IN A STEEP LEFT BANK, SLIGHT NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. THE ENG HIT THE GND ABOUT 33 FT BEYOND WHERE THE LEFT WING TIP 1ST MADE CONTACT. THE ACFT THEN TUMBLED & CAME TO REST WITH EXTENSIVE DAMAGE AFTER TRAVELING ANOTHER 54 FT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE PROP WAS ROTATING AT IMPACT & THE PROP BLADES WERE TWISTED & CURLED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND. FOUR SHOT GUNS WERE FND IN THE REAR OF THE ACFT & SHOT GUN SHELLS WERE FND THRU-OUT THE WRECKAGE AREA. DRG A TOXICOLOGY CHECK OF THE PLT'S BLOOD, AN ALCOHOL LVL OF 0.152% WAS NOTED.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.