Cessna 172N N23TC

Summary

On 5 April 1985 at about 08:00 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N23TC, operated by Charles Hathaway, was involved in an accident near White Cloud, Michigan, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

5 April 1985 at 08:00

Classification

Accident

Location

White Cloud, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

43.5498, -85.7699

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N23TC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Charles Hathaway

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Big Rapids → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CHI85FA156

3 people died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

AT ABOUT 0250 EST, CONTROL TOWER PSNL AT THE GRAND RAPIDS ARPT HEARD A 'MAYDAY' CALL FROM N23TC, BUT WHEN THEY TRIED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE ACFT, THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. THE CALL WAS REPEATED SVRL TIMES. A CHECK AT THE LOCAL ARPT REVEALED THERE WAS AN ACFT MISSING. A SEARCH WAS INITIATED, BUT THE ACFT WAS NOT FND UNTIL THE FOLLOWING EVENING. IT HAD CRASHED WHILE IN A STEEP NOSE DOWN, SHALLOW LEFT BANK ATTITUDE. PIECES OF WRECKAGE WERE FND UP TO 300 FT FROM WHERE THE ACFT IMPACTED THE GROUND. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND. HOWEVER, THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PLT WAS FLYING IN ADVERSE WX WITH LOW CEILINGS & VISIBILITY. ABOUT 25 MI SSE AT GRAND RAPIDS, MI, THE 0251 EST WAS WAS, IN PART: 300 FT OVERCAST & 1.5 MI VISIBILITY WITH FOG. PRIOR TO THE FLT, THE PLT HAD BEEN CELEBRATING IN A SALOON. TOXICOLOGY CHECKS OF HIS LUNG TISSUE FLUID & BILE SHOWED ALCOHOL LVLS OF 0.104% & 0.128%, RESPECTIVELY.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.