Cessna 150J accident near Sonora, CA
On April 18, 2008, a Cessna 150J (airplane) was involved in an accident near Sonora, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- April 18, 2008
- Place
- Sonora, CA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 150J · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 38.056°N, 119.901°W
- NTSB ID
- 20080425X00550
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 18, 2008, at 1250 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 150J floatplane, N60760, was destroyed when it impacted rugged terrain in the Emigrant Wilderness Area, near Sonora, California. The airline transport pilot flight instructor and commercially certificated student were killed. Seaplane Ventures, Inc., was operating the floatplane under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight. The floatplane departed from a pond on a private cattle ranch near Angels Camp, California, 38 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed. On the day of the accident, two commercial pilots came to the flight instructor for currency training in his fixed float equipped airplane. The first pilot receiving instruction said that they departed at approximately 0930, and the plan was to practice landings on two nearby reservoirs. Both of these reservoirs were at approximately 1,100 feet elevation, which was about the same elevation as the home base pond. They flew for 1.7 hours and returned to the pond for lunch. Their flight was uneventful. The first pilot reported that the airplane departed for its second training flight at 1212. The second pilot receiving instruction had requested to see some high mountain lakes and they had planned to fly directly to Cherry Lake (elevation 4,698 feet). The second pilot was an enthusiastic photographer, and he was planning to document the entire flight while the flight instructor was flying. Digital photographic data recovered from the wreckage indicated tha
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and loss of aircraft control. Contributing to the accident were rising mountainous terrain and a high density altitude.
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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.
