Aviation Crash Map

Cessna 152 N108ES

7 January 2001 · Spanish Fork, Utah, United States · Serious injuries

Summary

On 7 January 2001 at about 02:00 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N108ES was involved in an accident near Spanish Fork, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 02:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Spanish Fork, Utah, United States
Coordinates
40.1844, -111.7033
Aircraft
Cessna 152
Registration
N108ES
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Spanish Fork → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Destroyed
Weather
IMC
Light
Night
NTSB number
DEN01LA039

People

1 person was seriously injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
2 0 1 1 0

Probable cause

Improper weather evaluation by both the pilot and pilot/passenger, and the pilot's inadvertent VFR flight into IMC resulting in his spatial disorientation. Factors were the pilot rated passenger's spatial disorientation, fog, and night conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he and pilot-rated passenger assessed the weather conditions before departing on the local night flight, and determined it was safe to fly. The pilot estimated the visibility to be 5 miles. Shortly after takeoff, both the pilot and pilot rated passenger lost sight of the ground and horizon. The pilot wrote, "I felt the passenger/pilot grab the [control] yoke. I asked what he was doing. He said he felt we were turning. I then noticed we were going down." The pilot-rated passenger said they were "disoriented. [The pilot] thought we should descend a little. That's what we were doing when we hit the lake. We didn't really see it coming." He made no mention of control interference. Neither pilot was instrument rated. The airplane impacted a frozen lake, skidded about 300 feet, and fell through the ice. A witness reported that the visibility was 2 miles in fog.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Cessna 152 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
10 Nov 2001 Cessna 152
N5195B
Corning, New York, United States - No injuries -
24 Jul 2001 Cessna 152
N48228
Gallipolis, Ohio, United States - No injuries -
17 Aug 2001 Cessna 152
N757PZ
Newark, Ohio, United States - No injuries -
14 Mar 2001 Cessna 152
N757GP
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States - Minor injuries -
7 May 2001 Cessna 152
N757XS
Hayward, California, United States - No injuries -
31 Oct 2001 Cessna 152
N93550
Elberton, Georgia, United States - No injuries -

All 3,030 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
9 Mar 2001 Erco 415-C
N1121J
Ivins, Utah, United States - No injuries -
8 Nov 2001 Cessna 140
N76975
Nephi, Utah, United States - Minor injuries -
8 Sep 2001 Cessna 177RG
N52043
St. George, Utah, United States - No injuries -
7 Mar 2001 Piper J3C-65
N42523
Morgan, Utah, United States - No injuries -
7 Mar 2001 Boeing Stearman E75
N75848
Heber, Utah, United States - No injuries -
9 Nov 2001 Agusta A119
N119RX
Ogden, Utah, United States - Minor injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States