Cessna 150 N9492U

Summary

On 9 September 2019 at about 15:40 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N9492U was involved in an accident near Whitehall, Michigan, 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

9 September 2019 at 15:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Whitehall, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Fremont Municipal Airport (KFFX)

Coordinates

43.4056, -86.3356

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N9492U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fremont → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19LA308

1 person died.

The pilot’s flight into a water tower while operating below minimum safe altitudes for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence for this investigation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a personal flight in visual meteorological conditions below the minimum safe altitudes and over congested areas when the airplane impacted the center of a water tower. Witnesses observed the airplane in straight and level flight before impact and reported the engine was running at that time. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies that would have prevented the pilot from maneuvering to avoid the tower. The pilot’s toxicology results were positive for an antidepressant and a sedating antihistamine. The pilot was operating the airplane with an expired medical certificate, and his medical records indicated that he had been prescribed an antidepressant to treat anxiety/depression. This medication required the pilot to obtain a special issuance medical certificate before operating the airplane. It could not be determined if the pilot was impaired by his use of these medications or by the underlying conditions that warranted the medication. The reasons that the pilot operated the airplane over a congested area at a low altitude and failed to avoid the water tower could not be determined based on the available evidence for this investigation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.