Cessna 152 accident near Surprise, Arizona, November 29, 1999
On November 29, 1999 at about 9:05 pm local time, a Cessna 152, registered N48WT, was substantially damaged in an accident near Surprise, Arizona. It was a positioning flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to attain and maintain an adequate airspeed during takeoff from a short and unimproved dirt road, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush condition and impact with the ground.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 29, 1999 · about 9:05 pm local time
- Place
- Surprise, Arizona · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 152 · all 152s on the register
- Registration
- N48WT · registry record · serial 15283366
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot is chief pilot for a flight school, and reported that a renter pilot had made an emergency landing in a cow pasture in the accident airplane after running out of fuel. The airplane sat in the field unattended over the weekend. The pilot and one of the school's mechanics assessed the damage; none was found. The pilot planned to transport the airplane back to the airport. He put in fuel and performed a preflight and control check with no noted discrepancies. The pilot and the mechanic then moved the airplane to a rough dirt road; the pilot measured the available takeoff distance about 1,500 feet. He reported that the takeoff and initial climb out seemed normal, but the airplane then started turning left. The pilot applied right rudder and aileron but was not able to stop the turn. His airspeed was in the 50-knot range, but about 35 to 40 feet agl, the airplane began to settle while still in an 18- to 20-degree left bank. The stall warning indicator did not activate at any time. The left wing tip impacted the ground, followed by the nose of the airplane. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot stated that the winds alternated from calm to light and variable at 1 to 2 knots at the time of the accident. A postcrash examination revealed that the flaps, ailerons, and rudders operated normally. No mechanical discrepancies were found with any airframe or engine system.
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: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: helicopter; instructor: instrument airplane; instructor: instrument helicopter; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 6,600 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 90 in the last 90 days; 35 in the last 30 days; 6,400 as pilot in command; 1,200 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,510 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 24, 1999; 6 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,670 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-235-L2C (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: The Global Group INC.
The flight
- Destination: GEU Glendale AZ
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 25,000 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:50 pm from GEU, 15 miles away
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.