Cessna 182S N7270E

Summary

On 1 November 2001 at about 02:00 local time, a Cessna 182S registered N7270E, operated by Joel Bornstein, was involved in an accident near Little River, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 November 2001 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Little River, California, United States

Nearest airport

Little River (O48)

Coordinates

39.2753, -123.7000

Aircraft

Cessna 182S

Registration

N7270E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Joel Bornstein

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palo Alto → Little River

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX02FA019

1 person died.

the pilot's continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a collision with trees and terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While making a Visual Flight Rules approach in Instrument Flight Rules conditions, the airplane impacted trees and terrain 1.5 miles from the airport. There is no record that the pilot requested or received a weather briefing for the flight. A witness at the airport said that he heard an aircraft circling in the vicinity of the airport; however, he could not see it because of the low clouds and fog over the field. Using his hand-held radio on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) 122.7, the witness established contact with the pilot. The pilot said he was trying to land at the airport, and at one point could see the runway lights through the fog, but had lost sight of the runway. The witness then heard the aircraft continue to the east at what sounded like a reduced power setting. The witness did not hear any unusual engine sounds emanating from the airplane. There was no further communications from the pilot. A resident living near the crash site heard the sounds of an impact and reported the event to the sheriff's department. Search efforts were hampered by fog and low visibility conditions and the wreckage was not located until about 1000 the next day. The accident site is 1.5 miles north east of the airport at an elevation about 200 feet higher than the runway. The airport manager estimated the visibility to be about 1-mile with a 300-foot ceiling. Examination of the engine and airframe revealed no discrepancies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.