Cessna 152 accident near West Mifflin, PA
On March 15, 1998, a Cessna 152 (airplane) was involved in an accident near West Mifflin, PA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 15, 1998
- Place
- West Mifflin, PA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.359°N, 79.901°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001211X09688
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 15, 1998, at 0940 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N67893, was destroyed when it descended and collided with terrain while turning from downwind to the base leg at the Allegheny County Airport, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The student pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The local, solo, instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to recorded radio transmissions between the pilot and Air Traffic Control, the pilot radioed Air Traffic Control (ATC) and requested to taxi to the active runway. ATC cleared the pilot to taxi to runway 31. The pilot acknowledged the transmission, and requested directions to the runway. ATC provided progressive taxi directions to the pilot. The pilot was cleared for takeoff, and he completed one touch and go landing. The airplane was on the downwind leg, when the controller lost radar and radio communication with the airplane. The controller radioed the pilot several times, but there were no further radio transmissions with the accident airplane. The controller requested another airplane in the traffic pattern to look for the airplane. The other airplane in the traffic pattern located the accident airplane at the point where the airplane would turn onto the base leg. There were several witnesses who observed the airplane overfly at a low altitude. A witness on a pistol range reported that he saw a small airplane flying slow and low, then banking left, and disappearing out of sight. He said it reminded him of a "blimp", and that th
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. A related factor was the pilot's impairment due to the use of drugs.
More accidents in PA
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Browse: Pennsylvania · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
