Cessna 150 accident near Lake Placid, New York, January 17, 1998
On January 17, 1998 at about 9:24 pm local time, a Cessna 150, registered N150JH, was destroyed in an accident near Lake Placid, New York (Lake Placid Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
was the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 17, 1998 · about 9:24 pm local time
- Place
- Lake Placid, New York · Lake Placid Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 150 · all 150s on the register
- Registration
- N150JH · registry record · serial 15017637
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot departed with a certified flight instructor for a 90 day check flight. The student pilot flew with the instructor approximately 45 minutes. The instructor then deplaned and the student pilot departed on a solo flight to 'practice touch and goes.' The instructor did not witness the solo flight or the accident. He was inside a hangar when he heard the sound of impact. A witness stated, 'The unusualness of its position drew my eyes to it. It was headed up at a severe pitch, then quickly banked to the right, and went almost straight into the ground into the woods just off the runway. The plane never rolled. It turned like a pinwheel.' The student pilot had 86 hours of total time, 5 hours of which were in the 11 months prior to the accident with no time accumulated in the 3 months prior to the accident.
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: student
- Flight time: 86 hours in all; 5 in this make and model; 8 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,511 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, June 1, 1997; 6 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-200 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LKP at 9:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 32, 4,200 ft by 60 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 340° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 9°F (-13°C), dew point 1°F (-17°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 9:54 pm from BTV, 34 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.