Cessna 170 N3853V

Summary

On 9 May 1988 at about 02:20 local time, a Cessna 170 registered N3853V, operated by Robinson, Richard L., was involved in an accident near Sour Lake, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

9 May 1988 at 02:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Sour Lake, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.1293, -94.4005

Aircraft

Cessna 170

Registration

N3853V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Robinson, Richard L.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tomball → Beaumont

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

Unk

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW88LA098

2 people were seriously injured.

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

THE ACFT STRUCK TREES AND THE GRND DURING A NIGHT CROSS COUNTRY IN MARGINAL WEATHER. THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PVT PLT STATED THAT HE WAS FLYING IN CRUISE FLT AT 1250' MSL WHEN HE HIT TREES. THE CLOSEST WX STATION RECORDED 1200 OVERCAST WITH 5 MILES VISIBILITY, TEMP 74, DEW PT 70. THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT SITE WAS SPARSELY POPULATED AND KNOWN TO DEVELOP FOG AND RAGGED CEILINGS DURING SIMILAR CONDITIONS. THE ACDT SITE ELV WAS 15' AND THE TREES WERE 60-100' TALL. PLT RPTD THAT HIS ALTIMETER MALFUNCTIONED, HOWEVER, POST-ACCIDENT EXAMINATION AND TESTING DID NO REVEAL ANY FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION IN THE LOWER ALTITUDES. ALTIMETER WAS LAST CALIBRATED AND TESTED 17 YRS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE SURVIVORS WERE LOCATED ABOUT 16 HRS AFTER THE ACCIDENT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.