Cessna 150F N8661S

Summary

On 23 July 2017 at about 22:15 local time, a Cessna 150F registered N8661S was involved in an accident near Farmerville, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 July 2017 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Farmerville, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

32.7658, -92.4903

Aircraft

Cessna 150F

Registration

N8661S

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Farmerville → Farmerville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17FA281

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the lake during a low-level maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While on a personal flight, the airline transport pilot made several low passes over a lake in front of a friend's house. The friend and two other witnesses reported that, on its last pass, the airplane was flying at a low altitude when it pitched down slightly, impacted the surface of the lake, nosed over, and sank. The friend reported hearing the engine "sputter" followed by an increase in power before the impact, and one of the other witnesses reported that the engine was running throughout the low pass. A postaccident examination of the wreckage did not find any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. Although the temperature and dew point were conducive to serious icing at glide power, the witness observations and forward bending of the propeller blades were consistent with the engine operating at cruise or climb power at impact. A portable GPS unit found in the wreckage did not contain any data about the accident flight. However, the GPS unit did record data consistent with previous flights where an airplane flew near the accident location. Additionally, one witness stated that the pilot was friends with a neighbor and had conducted numerous low passes over the lake during the previous 4 years.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.