Cessna 421B accident near Kelso, CA
On October 29, 2003, a Cessna 421B (airplane) was involved in an accident near Kelso, CA. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 29, 2003
- Place
- Kelso, CA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 421B · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.022°N, 115.584°W
- NTSB ID
- 20031110X01878
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 29, 2003, at 1222 Pacific standard time (PST), a Cessna 421B, N444AM, experienced a loss of control and a subsequent in-flight breakup near Kelso, California. The owner/pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The airline transport pilot and four passengers sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. The personal cross-country flight departed Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport (IFP), Bullhead, Arizona, about 1155 PST, and was en route to Van Nuys, California. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed. The primary wreckage was located at 35 degrees 01.310 minutes north latitude and 115 degrees 35.021 minutes west longitude. The evening prior to the accident, the pilot contacted Hawthorne Flight Service Station (FSS) to obtain a FORECAST briefing for a noon departure the following day from IFP to Van Nuys. The briefer indicated the main concern would be layers of smoke due to fires as the flight crossed the San Gabriel Mountains, which are northeast of the Los Angeles basin, between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert. The morning of the accident, the pilot telephoned Hawthorne FSS for a weather briefing. The briefer advised the pilot of the following, in summary: an AIRMET for mountain obscuration along the coast; an "on-shore flow" pushing forest fire smoke inland; current Barstow-Daggett weather including clouds FEW015 and visibility 1.5 miles; current Van Nuys weather including clouds FEW200 and visi
Probable cause
The pilot's continued VFR flight into instrument conditions between cloud layers and with reduced visibility due to smoke that resulted in an in-flight loss of control from spatial disorientation, and the structural overload of the airframe during the subsequent high speed descent.
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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.
