St Lucie County Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Pierce, Florida 33450
Wednesday, May 24, 1989 13:09 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A JAPANESE NATIONAL/STUDENT PLT BECAME LOST ON HER 1ST FLT OUTSIDE THE ARPT TRAFFIC AREA. TOWER & APCH CONTROL PERSONNEL ATTEMPTED TO IDENTIFY THE ACFT ON RADAR, BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. THE PLT FLEW NORTHBOUND UNTIL THE ACFT FLEW OVER AN ARPT, THEN SHE ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN TO LAND. AS SHE CONTINUED IN THE PATTERN, SHE SAW ANOTHER ACFT AHEAD ON A SHORT FINAL APCH. SHE MADE A 360 DEG TURN THEN CONTD THE APCH. AFTER ATTEMPTING TO LAND BEHIND THE OTHER ACFT, THE STUDENT'S ACFT STALLED, ENTERED A STEEP DESCENT & CRASHED AT MIDFIELD, ABOUT 250 FT LEFT OF THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS RPRTD. THE STUDENT RPRTD THAT SHE HAD GOTTEN LOST AFTER ENCOUNTERINGSMOKE & HAZE. THE SMOKE WAS CAUSED BY AN EVERGLADE'S FIRE. THE STUDENT DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL & HAD DIFFICULTY COMMUNICATING WITH ATC PERSONNEL AFTER BECOMING LOST.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE STUDENT PILOT TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: THE WEATHER CONDITIONS (SMOKE & HAZE), THE STUDENT BECOMING LOST, HER LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE, AND HER INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND ATC INSTRUCTIONS AFTER SHE BECAME LOST.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/24/1989
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1309
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City FORT PIERCE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33450
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST LUCIE COUNTY INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FPR
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 24
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1313 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID FPR
Elevation of weather observation facility 24
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1800
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 840
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 24 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1329
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 40352
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:41PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N714UQ
NTSB Number MIA89FA154
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 152
Aircraft Series Identifier 152
Aircraft Serial Number 15279447
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 Dec 1 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 84
Airframe Hours 3214
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CREST ONE AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 527 LORETTO AVE.
Aircraft Owner City CORAL GABLES
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33146
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7501 PEMBROKE RD. HANGAR #2
Operator City WEST HOLLYWOOD
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33023
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 No
Departure Airport Code HWO
Departure City HOLLYWOOD
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 1101
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --