Cessna 172M N80542

Summary

On 17 March 1989 at about 05:30 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N80542 was involved in an accident near Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 March 1989 at 05:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Jackson County (PGL)

Coordinates

30.3596, -88.5406

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N80542

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New Orleans → Mobile

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

MIA89FA109

2 people died.

CONTINUED FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC). CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING, WEATHER CONDITIONS, PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TIME, LACK OF VISUAL CUES AT NIGHT, AND TREES AT THE CRASH SITE.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE ACFT WAS REPORTED MISSING WHEN IT DID NOT RETURN TO MOBILE AFTER A TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS ON 3/16/89. A SEARCH WAS INITIATED BY THE CIVIL AIR PATROL & THE ACFT WAS FOUND ON 3/19/89 WHERE IT CRASHED NEAR THE ARPT AT PASCAGOULA, MS. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WITH TREES APRX 300 YARDS SHORT OF RWY 31. A WITNESS SAID HE HEARD AN ACFT FLY OVER THE ARPT AT APRX 2330 CST. AT THAT TIME, HE NOTED THE WX WAS EXTREMELY FOGGY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION. THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PLT HAD LOGGED ONLY ABOUT 65 HRS FLT TIME.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.