Jackson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567
Thursday, March 16, 1989 23:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

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.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

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.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/16/1989
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2330
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City PASCAGOULA
Event State MISSISSIPPI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 39567
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport JACKSON COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PGL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 16
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2338 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 50
Weather Observation Facility ID MOB
Elevation of weather observation facility 16
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 40
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 200
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Obscured
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 2
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 403
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 19 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38904
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:32PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N80542
NTSB Number MIA89FA109
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 172M
Aircraft Series Identifier 172M
Aircraft Serial Number 17266646
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 1 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT W. BARBER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1014 USTER ST.
Aircraft Owner City MOBILE
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 36608
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code NEW
Departure City NEW ORLEANS
Departure State LA
Departure Country
Departure Time 2230
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code MOB
Destination City MOBILE
Destination State AL
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 4500
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --