Cessna 150D N4178U

Summary

On 20 March 2011 at about 23:27 local time, a Cessna 150D registered N4178U was involved in an accident near Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 March 2011 at 23:27

Classification

Accident

Location

Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States

Coordinates

43.3778, -89.9011

Aircraft

Cessna 150D

Registration

N4178U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake in the Hil → Reedsburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11FA240

2 people died.

The student pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and his decision to continue the flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a subsequent loss of airplane control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated student pilot departed on a 108-nautical-mile cross-country flight. About the time of departure, a weather reporting station near the departure airport reported visual meteorological conditions with few clouds at 8,000 feet above ground level (agl) and 10 miles of visibility. About this time, a weather reporting station near the destination airport was reporting instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with 4 miles of visibility and an overcast ceiling at 700 feet agl. That station, about 10 miles from the accident site, continued to report IMC through the time of the accident. About 10 minutes after the accident time, the weather consisted of a 700-foot overcast ceiling and 2 1/2 miles of visibility. There was no record that the pilot had obtained a weather briefing prior to the flight. The radar track of the accident flight was not a straight-line course and contained several course and altitude changes. During the last 15 miles of the flight, the flight path was jagged and culminated in a right turn with the airplane completing about 1 1/2 turns before the end of the data. The last radar position was about 0.57 miles from the accident site and about 1,600 feet agl. The airplane was equipped with gyroscopic instruments, but the pilot had only accumulated 0.5 hours of simulated instrument training when the accident occurred. He did not have an instructor’s endorsement to conduct the cross-country flight and was carrying a passenger, contrary to regulations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.