Cessna 152 N5314B

Summary

On 17 December 1998 at about 16:42 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N5314B, operated by University of Dubuque, was involved in an accident near Sherrill, Iowa, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 December 1998 at 16:42

Classification

Accident

Location

Sherrill, Iowa, United States

Coordinates

42.6004, -90.7805

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N5314B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

University of Dubuque

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dubuque → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI99FA052

1 person died.

the pilot continued flying with a known discrepancy and he failed to maintain airspeed and lost control of the airplane while attempting a forced landing. Factors included the tailwind and the undetermined loss of power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported the airplane was experiencing a degradation of power while practicing touch and go landings at an outlying field. He decided to fly back to the original departure airport, 21 miles away. He did not indicate over the radio what kind of problem the airplane was experiencing. He attempted to execute a forced landing. A ground witness reported the airplane barely cleared powerlines as it followed the contours of a field. He reported the airplane was flying low and slow at about 50 feet when it nosedived and flipped over and started burning. The main wreckage was located 80 feet from the initial ground scar on a heading of 080 degrees. The wind was from 250 degrees at 8 knots. The right wingtip had leading edge crush marks. The left wing's leading edge was crushed from the strut attach point to the wingtip. The cabin was destroyed by fire. The propeller blades were undamaged except for forward bending at the blade tips. The right and left magnetos received fire damage. The engine teardown and airframe inspection revealed no pre-impact anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.