Cessna 152 accident near La Grange, KY
On April 19, 2001, a Cessna 152 (airplane) was involved in an accident near La Grange, KY. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 19, 2001
- Place
- La Grange, KY
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 38.415°N, 85.421°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010426X00822
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 18, 2001, about 2000 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N95655, was destroyed when it nose-dived into terrain during low-level maneuvering over La Grange, Kentucky. The certificated student pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed for the local flight, which originated at Bowman Field (LOU), Louisville, Kentucky. The solo instructional flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to several witnesses, the pilot was airborne when he called his brother's home via cell phone, to advise he'd soon be flying overhead. The airplane arrived in the accident area and began circling, and was also seen wagging its wings. The airplane's altitude was estimated by several witnesses as ranging between 100 and 300 feet above the ground. After maneuvering for about 5 minutes, the airplane headed southwest, towards a prison complex. As it flew over one of the prison's plowed agricultural fields, it suddenly nose-dived into the ground. A witness noted that just prior to the nosedive, "the plane suddenly seemed to move up and down on an axis." Just before the nosedive, one witness thought the engine "faltered a little," another thought the engine was "operating normally," and a third witness heard the engine "get loud." The accident occurred about 20 minutes before sunset, at 38 degrees, 24.9 minutes north latitude, 85 degrees, 25.3 minutes west longitude. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot held a student pilot certificate. His logbook indicated that he had 35.6 hours of fli
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering the airplane at low altitude. A factor was the pilot's overconfidence in his abilities.
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Browse: Kentucky · 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.
