Cessna 172M N5312R

Summary

On 22 November 1993 at about 02:55 local time, a Cessna 172M registered N5312R was involved in an accident near Julian, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 November 1993 at 02:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Julian, California, United States

Coordinates

33.0208, -116.4903

Aircraft

Cessna 172M

Registration

N5312R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Chandler

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX94FA056

2 people died.

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRCRAFT CONTROL. FACTORS IN THIS ACCIDENT WERE: 1) THE DARK NIGHT AND LACK OF AMBIENT LIGHT WHICH RESULTED IN THE PILOT INADVERTENTLY FLYING FROM VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS; 2) THE PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, AND 3) SPATIAL DISORIENTATION.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot and his pilot-rated passenger departed for a night cross-country flight. They were receiving visual flight rules advisories and had been assigned a discrete transponder code. They were climbing to an altitude of 9,500 feet msl, and were at 9,100 feet msl when radio and radar contact were lost. The last recorded radio transmission from the pilot was, 'We're in a flat (blocked out), we're going to lose it dad.' A search was initiated, and the airplane and its occupants were found the next day. The cloud bases in the area were reported by other pilots to be about 7,100 feet msl, with tops about 13,000 feet. The light conditions were reported to be 'dark night' with little surface ambient light in the sparsely populated area. The pilot's logbook was examined, and no indication was found of the pilot having flown during the 90-day period preceding the accident. Neither the pilot nor the pilot-rated passenger had an instrument rating. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any preexisting deficiencies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.