NTSB ATL90FA038 — 1989-12-10 · SPINDALE, North Carolina, United States

Current FAA registration · N5417C

Make / Model: CESSNA 421C
Engine: CONT MOTOR GTSIO-520 SER (300 hp)
Seats / Engines: 8 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date: 19950426
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A6DEF3

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N5417C Cessna T210N Fatal

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S IMPROPER IFR PROCEDURE WHICH RESULTED IN DESCENT BELOW THE MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE. CONTRIBUTINGFACTOR(S) WAS: THE FOG AND LOW CEILING.

Factual narrative

AT 1246, DURING THE VOR APPROACH, THE PILOT ADVISED HE WAS GOING TO MAKE A 360 DEG TURN. AT 1250 HE ADVISED '...WE'RE GOT HER ALL SET UP.' AT 1256, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE WAS '...HAVING A HELL OF A TIME...HERE'. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED INTO TREES AND A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE 4 MILES SE OF THE AIRPORT. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE AIRPLANE CIRCLED THREE TIMES BEFORE THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THREE OF THE SEVEN OCCUPANTS OF THE HOUSE RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES. BASIC WEATHER DATA ABOVE WAS REPORTED AT GREER, SC, 34 MILES SW. WITNESSES IN AREA OF ACCIDENT REPORTED LOW CEILING & FOG. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_ATL90FA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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