Cessna T303 accident near Charlotte, North Carolina, November 25, 1983
On November 25, 1983 at about 11:00 pm local time, a Cessna T303, registered N2302C, was substantially damaged in an accident near Charlotte, North Carolina (Douglass airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 25, 1983 · about 11:00 pm local time
- Place
- Charlotte, North Carolina · Douglass · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Cessna T303 · all T303s on the register
- Registration
- N2302C · registry record · serial T 3030094
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DURING TAXI FOR TAKEOFF THE PILOT BECAME DISORIENTED AND THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH A DITCH WHERE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW TAXIWAY AND OLD ASPHALT CONNECTED. THE PLT STATED HE COULD NOT DETERMINE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LEVELS OF THE TWO SURFACES. THE TAXIWAY WAS NOT LIGHTED NOR WAS THE DUGOUT AREA BARRICADED OR MARKED.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 13,000 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 50 in the last 90 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 125 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 5, 1983; 54 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,145 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSI-O52AE (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: CLT Charlotte at 11:00 pm
- Destination: Gastonia NC
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.