NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 21, 1995, approximately 1515 hours mountain standard time, a Cessna 152, N6392Q, registered to High Valley Aviation, and being flown by a private pilot, was destroyed during a collision with terrain several miles east of Provo, Utah. The pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and originated from the Provo Municipal airport, approximately 1510.

Approximately 1450, the pilot telephoned Valley Hi Aviation, the operator, and scheduled the rental of N6392Q for 1500. At 1500, the pilot arrived at the fixed base operator and inquired of the lineman if the plane was "full of gas." The lineman reported that "he seemed somewhat snobbish and in a hurry" and that he "seemed somewhat curt in his manner" (refer to attached statement).

According to Provo City Police Department crime report number 9511492, "witnesses had indicated that the aircraft did not veer left or right and prior to impact made no unusual engine noises, but flew straightway into the mountain just above the upper most power lines" and that "witnesses also indicated that the airplane was traveling very low and it made one pass over the immediate area, circled once before crashing into the mountain and exploding into fire" (refer to attached report extract).

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

According to the previously referenced crime report, on 11/21/95 approximately 1430, the pilot (who was a defendant in a jury trial) received a "guilty verdict on a pyramid scheme." The report further stated that the pilot was estranged from his father and that according to the pilot's sister, girlfriend and roommate "that for a couple of months prior to his trial (that) he was putting together a new identity" and that "if found guilty (that) he felt that he was going to incur prison time as a result of that and he felt that he would just disappear." The report also stated that the pilot "did not feel that he could go to jail and since this was a second offense for this particular crime, (he) felt that if convicted that he would spend some years in jail."

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The aircraft impacted 40 degree upsloping, mountainous terrain at the 5,200 foot level along the base of the Wasatch Mountain Range, 5 nautical miles east of the Provo Municipal airport, Provo, Utah (refer to CHARTS I & II). A post crash fire occurred which consumed much of the aircraft (refer to photographs 1/2). The ground impact site was observed to be several hundred feet east and just slightly above the elevation of a series of north/ south power lines running along the base of the mountain range (refer to photographs 3 and 10/11).

A ground impact impression containing small paint chip fragments was observed extending generally south from the ground impact crater. The impact impression was consistent with the aircraft's right wing leading edge impacting the terrain in a wings level, flat attitude and with a relatively perpendicular flight path toward the mountain range (refer to photograph 5).

The aircraft's propeller was separated from the engine (refer to photograph 6) and both propeller blades displayed aftward bending and twisting deformation as well as substantial chordwise scratching and leading edge nicking (refer to photographs 7 through 9). Documentation of the aircraft's instrumentation (Supplement B) was not accomplished due to the extensive fire damage to the wreckage.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

Post mortem examination of the pilot was conducted by Todd C. Grey, M.D., Chief Medical Examiner, at the Office of the Medical Examiner, 48 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84113, on 11/22/96. The manner of death was reported as "suicide."

Toxicological evaluation of samples from the pilot was conducted by the FAA's Toxicology and Accident Research Laboratory. All results were negative with the exception of the following findings:

0.006 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in blood, and 0.015 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in urine

Refer to attached toxicology report.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On site examination of the wreckage was conducted on the afternoon of 11/22/96 after which the wreckage was verbally released to the operator. Written wreckage documentation was acquired on 12/21/95 and is documented on NTSB Form 6120.15 (attached).

NTSB Probable Cause

pilot suicide (intentional in-flight collision with rising terrain). A factor relating to the accident was: pilot anxiety/apprehension.