Cessna P210 accident near Prescott, AZ

On August 30, 2018, a Cessna P210 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Prescott, AZ. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

August 30, 2018

Place

Prescott, AZ

Aircraft

Cessna P210 · Airplane

Injuries

1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

34.670°N, 112.406°W

NTSB ID

20180830X12655

Official records · WPR18FA245

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• ATC Audio - Prc Gc: Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
• ATC Audio - Prc Lc: Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
• ATC Tabular Track Data: Document (CSV), on ntsb.gov
• FAA ATC Accident Package: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 29, 2018, about 2035 mountain standard time, a Cessna P210, N6500W, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident in Prescott, Arizona. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to acquire night currency by performing practice takeoffs and landings at the Prescott Regional Airport (PRC). He initially requested clearance from the ground controller to takeoff from runway 21L and stay in the pattern, but the controller told the pilot that the traffic pattern was full. The controller then told the pilot he could depart from and stay in the traffic pattern for 21R, which the pilot accepted. A review of the radar track data indicated that after departure, the airplane joined a right traffic pattern for runway 21R (see figure 1). On the downwind leg, the track was not parallel to the runway and neared the approach end. The track then progressed into a long teardrop-shaped 180° turn; about 2.8 nautical miles (nm) from the approach end of runway 21R, the airplane's heading turned right toward the runway. At 2032:59 the tower controller stated to the pilot, "just verifying you're lining up for runway 21R." Four seconds later the pilot replied, "roger that, 21R, 6500W." At 2033:19 the controller told the pilot to go around. Figure 1: Radar Track The last recorded data point was at 2034:17 and about 740 ft northeast of the accident site. At that time, the airplane was about 5,050 ft mean sea level (msl), which was about 145 ft abov

Probable cause

The pilot's misjudgment of distance and altitude from the runway and his subsequent failure to maintain an approach path that provided clearance from the terrain due to a visual illusion in dark night conditions.

More accidents in AZ

• De Havilland DHC-6-300, Sep 27, 1989
• Cessna 402C, Jun 19, 1992
• Piper PA-31-350, Aug 17, 1983
• Piper PA-31-350, Feb 13, 1995
• Cessna 421C, Sep 2, 1995

Browse: Arizona · Cessna aircraft

See it on the map

Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.