Lake Havasu City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Havasu Lake, California 92363
Sunday, July 6, 1986 3:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

AT ABOUT 2100 PDT ON 7/5/86, THE FLT DEPARTED LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ FOR AN UNKN DESTN. ON THE NEXT MORNING AT APRX 0330, WITNESSES, WHO WERE FISHING ON LAKE HAVASU, HEARD THE ACFT CIRCLE TWICE, THEN CRASH ABOUT 2 MI WEST OF THE ARPT ON THE CALIFORNIA SIDE OF THE LAKE. THE WX WAS CLEAR & IT WAS A DARK NIGHT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE ACFT IMPACTED IN A STEEP DSCNT; IT MOVED ONLY ABOUT 20' AFTER IMPACT & THERE WAS EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE NOSE & FWD FUSELAGE. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND. TOXICOLOGY TESTS OF THE PLT & 2 OF THE PAX WERE POSITIVE FOR BENZOYLECGONINE & COCAINE. FOR BENZOYLECGONINE, THE PLT'S BLOOD, LIVER & KIDNEY TISSUE TESTED 0.46 MICROGRAM/MILLILITER, 0.58 MICROGRAM/GRAM & 1.3 MICROGRAMS/GRAM, RESPECTIVELY. FOR COCAINE, HIS LIVER & KIDNEY TISSUE TESTED 0.01 & 0.23 MICROGRAM/GRAM, RESPECTIVE-LY. THE PLT POSSESSED A STUDENT LICENSE THAT HAD EXPIRED. THREE OF THE 4 PAX WERE OCCUPYING THE 2 REAR SEATS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/6/1986
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 330
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City HAVASU LAKE
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92363
Event Date Year 1986
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAKE HAVASU CITY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LHU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 270
Airport Elevation 483
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 247 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 328
Weather Observation Facility ID LAS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2174
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 123
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 5
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 5
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2249
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 6 1986 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 810
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 32867
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N80503
NTSB Number LAX86FA279
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 17266624
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 27 1986 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3808
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JOHN H. LYMAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 74-160 CHICORY
Aircraft Owner City PALM DESERT
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92260
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name JIM KUHN
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 79-880 AVENUE 42
Operator City BERMUDA DUNES
Operator State CA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 92201
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
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code LHU
Destination City LAKE HAVASU CTY
Destination State AZ
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 6434
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --