Cessna 500 N79DD
24 September 1990 · San Luis Obispo, California, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 24 September 1990 at about 14:02 local time, a Cessna 500 registered N79DD was involved in an accident near San Luis Obispo, California, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 14:02
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- San Luis Obispo, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- San Luis Obispo (SBP)
- Coordinates
- 35.2501, -120.6209
- Aircraft
- Cessna 500
- Registration
- N79DD
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Van Nuys → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- IMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX90FA332
People
4 people died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER IFR (INSTRUMENT) PROCEDURE, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN THE MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) FOR THE APPROACH. THE ADVERSE WEATHER WAS A RELATED FACTOR.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
THE FLT WAS CLRD FOR A LOC RWY 11 APCH. ABOUT 3 MIN LATER, THE 2ND-IN-COMMAND (SIC) RPRTD ' . . . WE DON'T GET THE LOCALIZER CAN YOU SEE IF WE'RE ON COURSE.' THE LAX ARTCC R-15 CTLR CONFIRMED THE FLT WAS RGT OF COURSE & BELOW THE RQRD ALT. THE ACFT'S MODE C INDCD AN ALT OF 1400 FT; THE CTLR ADZD THE FLT CREW TO MAINT AT LEAST 2300 FT UNTIL PAST THE FINAL APPROACH FIX (FAF). THE CREW THEN REPLIED THAT THEY WERE IN VMC. RADAR SVC WAS TERMINATED & A FREQ CHANGE TO TOWER WAS APPROVED. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THE ACFT HIT A EUCALYPTUS TREE AT ABT 90 FT AGL, 2.05 MI FM THE APCH END OF THE RWY & ABT 195 FT RGT OF THE LOC. ELEV OF THE CRASH SITE WAS 101 FT; MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) FOR THE APCH WAS 640 FT. THE 0645 PDT WX WAS, IN PART: INDEFINITE CEILING, 100 FT OBSCURED, VIS 1/8 MI WITH FOG, WIND FROM 220 DEG AT 4 KTS. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna 500 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr 1987 | Cessna 500 | Willoughby, Ohio, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 17 Apr 1984 | Cessna 500 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Feb 1984 | Cessna 500 | Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 1 Apr 1996 | Cessna 500 | Salt Lake City, Utah, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 8 Jul 1984 | Cessna 500 | Gualala, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 2 Apr 1983 | Cessna 500 | Eagle Pass, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 4 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Apr 1990 | Cessna 180 | Soledad, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 10 Oct 1990 | Cessna 150 | Riverside, California, United States | PAR Flight | No injuries | - |
| 17 Apr 1990 | Piper PA46 | Paso Robles, California, United States | Piper Aircraft Corp. | No injuries | - |
| 7 Oct 1990 | Cessna 182M | Bakersfield, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 1 Apr 1990 | Piper J-3 | Creston, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1990 | Bell 47G4 | Merced, California, United States | John W. Myers | Serious injuries | - |