NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA88FA120
Registry · N2RE
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
ETZLER RICHARD LANCAIR IV P
Year of manufacture
1997
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO-550 SERIES (300 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19970827
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A18ECD
Registrant of record
ETZLER RICHARD D
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Factual narrative
THE NONINSTRUMENT RATED PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW US HIGHWAY 2 WESTBOUND ACROSS THE CASCADES MOUNTAINS. ACCORDING TO SEVERAL WITNESSES UPON CRESTING THE STEVENS PASS AREA AT AN ALTITUDE OF 4300 FEET MSL (APPROXIMATELY 250 FEET AGL) HE ENCOUNTERED LOW CLOUDS AND REDUCED VISIBILITY. THE PILOT THEN FLEW INTO CLOUDS DURING WHICH A DESCENDING CLOCKWISE COURSE CHANGE BACK TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST WAS ATTEMPTED. WHILE THE PILOT WAS MANEUVERING THE AIRCRAFT IN A SHALLOW LEFT TURN THE AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH A TREE. CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT WAS LOST AND THE AIRCRAFT THEN COLLIDED WITH TERRAIN DURING AN UNCONTROLLED DESCENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1988_SEA88FA120.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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