Cessna 152 accident near Austin, NV
On April 25, 2000, a Cessna 152 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Austin, NV. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 25, 2000
- Place
- Austin, NV
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.539°N, 117.191°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X20840
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT At an undetermined time between 1834 hours Pacific daylight time on April 24, 2000, and 1612 on April 25, 2000, a Cessna 152, N67435, operated by Aer Mistral, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, collided with upsloping mountainous terrain while maneuvering about 29 nautical miles (nm) south of Austin, Nevada. Visual meteorological conditions existed in the central Nevada accident site area between April 24 and 25. The airplane was destroyed, and the two private pilots were fatally injured. The flight was performed under 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane's last observed departure point was from the uncontrolled Winnemucca Municipal Airport, Winnemucca, Nevada, on April 24, about 1655. A line serviceman at Winnemucca indicated that he last observed the airplane after completely refilling its fuel tanks and it departed the airport. The airplane's route of flight to the accident site was determined from recorded data that was subsequently extracted from a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver found in the airplane's wreckage. Additionally, photographic evidence showing the latter portion of the flight was obtained from two cameras also found in the wreckage. In summary, the GPS data and photographic evidence indicated that after departing Winnemucca the airplane tracked along a southeasterly course until landing on an unidentified dry lakebed-like clearing that was devoid of vegetation. Both pilots exited the airplane and took pictures of each other. After an undetermined amount of time, the pilots took off and continued heading in a southe
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to attempt flight in an area of high rising mountainous terrain at an inadequate altitude, which resulted in an impact during a turn to reverse direction. A contributing factor was the pilot's lack of total experience in mountain flying operations.
More accidents in NV
- Cessna 425, Jan 12, 1992
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Browse: Nevada · 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.
