Cessna 172N N6463D

Summary

On 24 November 1997 at about 21:52 local time, a Cessna 172N registered N6463D, operated by Richard Jones, was involved in an accident near La Jolla, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 November 1997 at 21:52

Classification

Accident

Location

La Jolla, California, United States

Coordinates

32.8608, -117.2401

Aircraft

Cessna 172N

Registration

N6463D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Richard Jones

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98FA043

1 person died.

the pilot's act of suicide by intentionally diving his aircraft into the ocean.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The tower was tracking radar returns believed to be from the accident aircraft. The track continued north to a point west of the coastline. The altitude returns indicated 3,000 feet, a descent to 1,500 feet, then back to 1,800 feet before radar contact was lost. A lifeguard reported seeing an aircraft complete a loop, level off, and then nose over in a dive until the crashing into the ocean. The pilot's girlfriend contacted the operator asking if the pilot had taken off and expressed concern about a possible attempted suicide. The operator contacted the tower, but the aircraft had already departed. A friend of the pilot reported that he had been despondent recently about the death of his mother and his deteriorating health. The pilot left a hand written will dated the day before the accident. The coroner reported finding evidence of advanced coronary artery disease and a previous heart attack. He ruled the death as suicide.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.