Cessna P210 accident near Tehachapi, CA
On September 4, 2011, a Cessna P210 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Tehachapi, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 4, 2011
- Place
- Tehachapi, CA
- Aircraft
- Cessna P210 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.068°N, 118.434°W
- NTSB ID
- 20110906X04202
Official records · WPR11FA430
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn September 4, 2011, at 1125 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N7WJ, collided with trees near Tehachapi, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed from impact forces and a post-crash fire. The local personal flight departed Cable Airport, Upland, California, at 1023. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot called a friend who had a home near Tehachapi, and indicated that he would fly over the home later that morning on a pleasure flight. A witness at the Mountain Valley Airport in Tehachapi possessed commercial pilot certificates for airplane single-engine and multiengine land, as well as an instrument rating. He was working on a glider rating at Mountain Valley and was familiar with the surrounding area. He noticed an airplane approaching the airport from the southeast on a northwesterly heading. The airplane was low over the wind turbines in the area, and after clearing the ridge line that they were on, began a 360-degree turn in a 45- to 60-degree angle of bank. He noticed that two landing gear were down, and from his vantage point thought that the airplane had a tail wheel. The airplane descended a couple of hundred feet during the turn. He noted that it was below the tree line at that point, and it continued the turn to a southwesterly heading. It started up a valley between two ridgelines and disappeared from his sight behind the neares
Probable cause
The pilot’s intentional low-altitude maneuvering and failure to maintain clearance from terrain due to distraction.
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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.
