Cessna 525 N15C

Summary

On 5 December 2003 at about 04:15 local time, a Cessna 525 registered N15C was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 3 people were 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.

Date

5 December 2003 at 04:15

Classification

Accident

Location

San Diego, California, United States

Nearest airport

San Diego (KMYF)

Coordinates

32.8156, -117.1394

Aircraft

Cessna 525

Registration

N15C

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eugene → San Diego

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX04LA058

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control and to initiate a timely go-around when visual contact with the runway was lost.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane veered off the runway during a night landing in instrument conditions and collided with ground obstructions. The weather conditions included a visibility of less than 1/4-mile in fog, with a vertical visibility of 100 feet. The pilot stated he was able to see the field while intercepting the instrument approach course at 3,000 feet msl. Using instruments for the approach, he was still able to maintain visual contact through the 100- to 200-foot-thick layer of fog, when he reached 200 feet agl. After descending, he lost visual contact with the runway, and everything became black. He started to move the levers up for a go-around, but noticed two red lights to his left. He thought he was too close to the ground and too slow, so he decided to land. The airplane touched down on the runway a second or two later. The pilot did not maintain directional control and the airplane veered to the left. It crossed an unpaved area, then hit and crossed a taxiway. The pavement lip edge broke the nose wheel off. The airplane continued onto another unpaved area and came to rest. It was about 50 feet to the left of runway 28R, and about 100 feet to the right of runway 5. The airplane also incurred damage to the nose gear fork assembly, pressure vessel, and to frame members. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented had he initiated a go-around when he lost visual contact with the runway. He reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.