PASCAGOULA, MS, USA
N80542
CESSNA 172M
THE ACFT WAS REPORTED MISSING WHEN IT DID NOT RETURN TO MOBILE AFTER A TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS ON 3/16/89. A SEARCH WAS INITIATED BY THE CIVIL AIR PATROL & THE ACFT WAS FOUND ON 3/19/89 WHERE IT CRASHED NEAR THE ARPT AT PASCAGOULA, MS. INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WITH TREES APRX 300 YARDS SHORT OF RWY 31. A WITNESS SAID HE HEARD AN ACFT FLY OVER THE ARPT AT APRX 2330 CST. AT THAT TIME, HE NOTED THE WX WAS EXTREMELY FOGGY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION. THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PLT HAD LOGGED ONLY ABOUT 65 HRS FLT TIME.
CONTINUED FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC). CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING, WEATHER CONDITIONS, PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TIME, LACK OF VISUAL CUES AT NIGHT, AND TREES AT THE CRASH SITE.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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