Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Allegheny County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Mifflin, Pennsylvania 15122
Sunday, March 15, 1998 9:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The student pilot was in the traffic pattern practicing touch and go landings and had completed one landing. The airplane was on the downwind leg for the second landing when the control tower lost radio contact with the pilot. The pilot of another airplane in the traffic pattern located the accident airplane at the point where the pilot would turn from the downwind leg to the base leg. A witness, near the accident site, said he saw a small airplane in a 'straight down dive.' The airplane impacted the ground in a near vertical position and came to rest inverted. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not disclose any structural or mechanical anomalies. Toxicological tests of the pilot revealed 0.015 (ug/ml, ug/g) diphenhydramine in blood, 0.012 (ug/ml, ug/g) doxylamine in blood, and unquantified levels of trimethoprim, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine in blood. Diphenhydramine and doxylamine are sedating over-the-counter antihistamines, and the levels detected in blood indicate they may have been used by the pilot more than 24 hours before the accident flight. Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant, phenylpropanolamine is a metabolite of pseudoephedrine, and trimethoprim is a prescription antibiotic. In the Code of Federal Regulations, 14 CFR 91.17, it states: 'No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft...While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety... .'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
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.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WEST MIFFLIN |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15122 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALLEGHENY COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AGC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1252 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 945 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 53 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AGC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1252 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1787 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N67893 |
| NTSB Number | IAD98FA037 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 152 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15282080 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 17 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 64 |
| Airframe Hours | 5009 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM J KOSLOSKY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | NO. 3 P.O. BOX 481G |
| Aircraft Owner City | LATROBE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15650 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | O.T. AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT |
| Operator City | WEST MIFFLIN |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AGC |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 928 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 3824 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |