Beech B36TC accident near Union City, CA
On November 25, 2002, a Beech B36TC (airplane) was involved in an accident near Union City, CA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- November 25, 2002
- Place
- Union City, CA
- Aircraft
- Beech B36TC · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 37.636°N, 121.978°W
- NTSB ID
- 20021213X05606
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On November 24, 2002, about 1800 Pacific standard time, a Beech B36TC, N3242Q, cruised into upsloping mountainous terrain about 3 miles north of Union City, California. At the time of the accident, dark nighttime conditions existed, and the airplane was approaching the Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County, located about 12 nautical miles (nm) south of the crash site. Impact forces and a postcrash ground fire destroyed the airplane. The commercial certificated pilot, who was the sole occupant in the airplane, was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity of the accident site. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had been providing the pilot with en route radar flight-following service, but that service was terminated by the FAA seconds prior to the accident. The pilot's wife reported that the round trip flight originated about 0800 from the Palo Alto Airport, the pilot's home base. Thereafter, the pilot flew to an undetermined airport near Boise, Idaho. The accident occurred during the pilot's return flight home. After departing from near Boise, the pilot flew to the Ontario Municipal Airport, an uncontrolled airport located in Ontario, Oregon. According to a representative from Ontario Aviation, Inc., its records indicated that on November 24, a purchase transaction was completed with the pilot's credit card for 64.47 gallons of 100 LL aviation fuel. The representative indicated that the self-service fu
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude, which resulted in controlled flight into rising mountainous terrain. Contributing factors were the pilot's loss of situational awareness to his terrain proximity, the dark night, and the localized low clouds that obscured the terrain.
More accidents in CA
- Douglas MD-83, Feb 1, 2000
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-32, Aug 31, 1986
- British Aerospace BAE-146-200, Dec 8, 1987
- Beech C-99, Aug 24, 1984
- Sikorsky S-61N, Aug 6, 2008
Browse: California · Beech 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.
