Cessna 152 accident near Watsonville, CA

On August 18, 2022, a Cessna 152 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Watsonville, CA. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.

Date

August 18, 2022

Place

Watsonville, CA

Aircraft

Cessna 152 · Airplane

Injuries

3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Substantial

Position

36.937°N, 121.789°W

NTSB ID

20220818105763

Official records · WPR22FA309

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

Air traffic control records

• Recording Of Norcal Approach: Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
• Air Traffic Control Ctaf At Wvi: Document (MP3), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 18, 2022, about 1455 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 152, N49931, and a Cessna 340, N740WJ, were destroyed when they were involved in a midair collision near Watsonville, California. The pilot of N49931 and the pilot and passenger of N740WJ were fatally injured. Both airplanes were operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flights. The pilot of the Cessna 152 was performing takeoffs and landings in the traffic pattern at Watsonville Municipal Airport (WVI). The WVI CTAF was recorded, and review of the recordings revealed that the pilot had been making position reports for most of the traffic pattern legs during his previous four traffic patterns. The Cessna 340 pilot made his initial position report ten miles east of the airport at 4,500 ft feet mean sea level (msl), and reported that he would be descending for a straight-in approach to runway 20. Less than one minute later, the Cessna 152 pilot reported that he was crosswind for runway 20, and less than a minute after that call, he reported downwind for runway 20. The Cessna 340 pilot then reported that he was three miles from runway 20 on a straight-in approach. The Cessna 152 pilot then reported that he was turning left base for runway 20. About 19 seconds later, the Cessna 340 pilot reported that he was one mile from the airport and that he was looking for the traffic on left base. The Cessna 152 pilot stated that he did see the Cessna 340 and that the Cessna 340 was behind him. About 13 seconds later, the Cessna 152 pilot stated that he was, “going around, because yo

Probable cause

The failure of the pilot of the multi-engine airplane to see and avoid the single-engine airplane while performing a straight-in approach for landing.

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Browse: California · Cessna aircraft

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