NTSB ATL90LA084 — 1990-03-18 · BEAUFORT, North Carolina, United States

N704EA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ELROY AIR INC CHAPARRAL C1), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N704EA Cessna 150M None

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S DELAYED PULL UP FROM AN INTENTIONAL DESCENT DURING AN ABORTED SUICIDE ATTEMPT.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT CONFESSED TO POLICE THAT HE BECAME INTOXICATED AND FLEW THE AIRPLANE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION. HE STATED THAT AFTER RETURNING TO THE AIRPORT TO LAND, HE DOVE THE AIRPLANE AT THE GROUND TO COMMIT SUICIDE. BEFORE IMPACT, HE TRIED TO ARREST THE DESCENT BY PULLING AFT ON THE YOKE, BUT THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90LA084.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.