Plane Crash List

Cessna 310 N5202A

24 February 2003 · Palmdale, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 24 February 2003 at about 02:00 local time, a Cessna 310 registered N5202A, operated by Christopher Banninger, was involved in an accident near Palmdale, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 02:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Palmdale, California, United States
Coordinates
34.7461, -118.2206
Aircraft
Cessna 310
Registration
N5202A
Category
Airplane
Engines
2
Operator
Christopher Banninger
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Henderson → Whiteman
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Dusk
NTSB number
LAX03LA096

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain/obstacle clearance altitude. Factors in the accident were the low ceilings and the dusk light illumination.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with powerlines while diverting to an alternate airport. The pilot stated that the weather conditions deteriorated along his route of flight. He contacted the Flight Service Station (FSS) via radio and was advised the ceiling in Soledad Canyon (the accident location) was about 3,500 feet. The elevation at Soledad Pass on the Los Angeles VFR Terminal Area Chart is 3,225 feet mean sea level (msl). As the pilot entered the canyon, dusk lighting conditions existed and he felt ceiling conditions were lower than those forecast. He decided to divert to an alternate airport instead of continuing on into the canyon. The pilot turned toward the airport and the airplane impacted the powerlines. The airplane then landed at the alternate airport uneventfully. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed damage to both propellers, the nose gear door, and the left tip tank. The closest official weather observation station was reporting a broken ceiling at 3,600 feet, with higher layers.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Cessna 310 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
2 Dec 2003 Cessna 310-H
N815M
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States - No injuries -
30 Mar 2003 Cessna 310F
N5810X
Reidsville, North Carolina, United States Patrick L. Owens Minor injuries -
27 Mar 2003 Cessna 310
N244S
Dyersburg, Tennessee, United States - No injuries -
15 Sep 2003 Cessna 310J
N2010E
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States - Fatal 2
29 Oct 2003 Cessna 310C
N6674B
Los Angeles, California, United States - No injuries -
21 Dec 2003 Cessna 310P
N5811M
Crystal River, Florida, United States - No injuries -

All 1,745 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jan 2003 Cessna 414
N127WW
Palm Springs, California, United States - Serious injuries -
15 Nov 2003 Omf OMF-100-160
N290MF
Van Nuys, California, United States Alliance International Serious injuries -
16 Jan 2003 Cessna 152
N25562
Salinas, California, United States Squadron 2 No injuries -
17 Nov 2003 Beechcraft A36TC
N52AM
Visalia, California, United States John Rodgers Minor injuries -
22 Sep 2003 Cessna 150F
N3093X
Reedley, California, United States - No injuries -
27 Sep 2003 McClanahan STITS PLAYMATE SA-11
N9YC
Fontana, California, United States - Fatal 2

All 170,864 records in United States