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| Date: | Saturday 6 January 2001 |
| Time: | 19:00 |
| Type: |  Cessna 152 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N108ES |
| MSN: | 15279931 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 8500 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-235-L2C(M) |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Spanish Fork, UT -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Spanish Fork, UT (U77) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot reported that he and pilot-rated passenger assessed the weather conditions before departing on the local night flight, and determined it was safe to fly. The pilot estimated the visibility to be 5 miles. Shortly after takeoff, both the pilot and pilot rated passenger lost sight of the ground and horizon. The pilot wrote, "I felt the passenger/pilot grab the [control] yoke. I asked what he was doing. He said he felt we were turning. I then noticed we were going down." The pilot-rated passenger said they were "disoriented. [The pilot] thought we should descend a little. That's what we were doing when we hit the lake. We didn't really see it coming." He made no mention of control interference. Neither pilot was instrument rated. The airplane impacted a frozen lake, skidded about 300 feet, and fell through the ice. A witness reported that the visibility was 2 miles in fog.
Probable Cause: Improper weather evaluation by both the pilot and pilot/passenger, and the pilot's inadvertent VFR flight into IMC resulting in his spatial disorientation. Factors were the pilot rated passenger's spatial disorientation, fog, and night conditions.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20010126X00362&key=1
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 29 May 1992 | N108ES | Lee Rowser | 0 | Mt. Pleasant, UT | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 10-Dec-2017 10:25 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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