Cessna 152 accident near Palm Springs, California, May 31, 2000
On May 31, 2000 at about 7:09 pm local time, a Cessna 152, registered N5538M, was destroyed in an accident near Palm Springs, California (Palm Springs Int'L airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 2 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The failure of the pilot/flight instructor to maintain sufficient airspeed to prevent the aircraft stalling and spinning. Factors in the accident were terrain induced windshear and sudden wind shift and the pilot/flight instructor's lack of total experience.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 31, 2000 · about 7:09 pm local time
- Place
- Palm Springs, California · Palm Springs Int'L
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 2 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152 · all 152s on the register
- Registration
- N5538M · no longer on the register · serial 15284609
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While on base leg turning to final approach at the desert airport, the instructional flight was authorized by the air traffic control tower to perform s-turns for spacing due to another aircraft stopped in position on the runway and starting the takeoff roll. Witnesses observed the aircraft's wings rock steeply right and left and then the aircraft dove nose-first to the ground from about 250 feet agl. The recently certificated flight instructor had worked as an instructor for about 1 month and had 363 total flight hours. The flight was the student's first fixed-wing aircraft instructional flight, although he had about 60 hours experience in helicopters and the foreign equivalent of a private pilot certificate. Witnesses said that surface wind varies greatly in the area near the accident site. Two witnesses, one located 1/2 block south of the accident site and the other located two blocks east of the accident site, reported the surface wind was calm. A third witness, located two blocks north of the accident site, reported the wind was blowing about 40 knots. This third witness reported that when she arrived at the accident site, soon after it happened, and got out of her car, the wind blew her hat off and across the street. Ten minutes later the wind stopped and it became completely still. At the airport, about 1 mile southeast of the accident location, the surface wind remained less than 12 knots in the period from 2 hours before the accident to about 2 hours after it. Several pilots reported that wind shear is common in the area due to terrain induced eddies from nearby mountains. The airport did not have a low-level wind shear alert system. One witness reported the engine was 'sputtering' and another said it was silent; however, at the accident site the propeller exhibited deep leading edge damage, torsional twisting, and chordwise striations on the front face. No mechanical anomalies were found.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 363 hours in all; 33 in this make and model; 109 in the last 90 days; 104 in the last 30 days; 297 as pilot in command; 75 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 5,729 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, April 13, 2000; 57 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,670 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-235-L2C (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TRM Thermal CA at 6:50 pm
- Destination: PSP
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 13R, 9,375 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 199°F (93°C), dew point 126°F (52°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 7:10 pm from PSP, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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.