Cessna 210K accident near Topanga, CA
On June 12, 1997, a Cessna 210K (airplane) was involved in an accident near Topanga, CA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- June 12, 1997
- Place
- Topanga, CA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 210K · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.100°N, 118.600°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X08159
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On June 12, 1997, at 1212 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 210K, N8276M, owned and operated by the pilot, descended into mountainous terrain approximately 2 miles west of Topanga, California. Instrument meteorological conditions existed in the vicinity of the crash site, and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and ground fire. The noninstrument rated private pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight originated from Visalia, California, around 1110. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), during the flight the pilot had requested and received visual flight rules (VFR) radar flight following service. The airplane was assigned a discrete transponder code and was identified on radar. As the pilot approached the San Fernando Valley area, he was communicating with radar controllers from the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility (SCT). In summary, between 1152 and 1153 the pilot indicated to controllers that he was slowly descending through 11,300 feet mean sea level (msl), his destination was Santa Monica (airport), and he was "looking for a hole." (The airplane's altitude is based upon the pilot's voice transmissions of his barometric altitude, and on automatic transmissions from the airplane's Mode C equipped transponder.) During subsequent communications, the pilot indicated to controllers that he was descending through 10,000 and 7,500 feet msl at 1154 and 1157, respectively. At 1201:45, a controller asked the pilot ". . . are you going to be able to get down below the clouds
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain proper VFR altitude over mountainous terrain obscured by clouds, and his intentional descent into instrument meteorological weather conditions.
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Browse: California · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
