Cessna 210L N5138Q

Summary

On 23 November 1995 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 210L registered N5138Q was involved in an accident near Grand Canyon, Arizona, 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

23 November 1995 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Canyon Natl Park (GCN)

Coordinates

36.0297, -112.0196

Aircraft

Cessna 210L

Registration

N5138Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Flagstaff

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX96FA052

2 people died.

the pilot's loss of aircraft control as a result of spatial disorientation. Factors were: the pilot's lack of experience in instrument and night flight conditions, inadequate transition/upgrade training, and the dark night light condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

There were no witnesses to the nighttime departure accident. In response to an emergency locator transmitter signal, the aircraft was located 3/4 mile off the departure end of the runway. The aircraft had impacted level terrain in a nose-low, left wing-low attitude. Local pilots report that the departure area is devoid of lighting at night and is a black hole requiring flight by reference to instruments after takeoff. The recently licensed private pilot had trained in a Cessna 172 and had 3.2 hours of night flight time and 1 hour of simulated instrument flight time. His 20-flight-hour checkout in the accident aircraft, which was also his high performance aircraft checkout, was completed the day before the accident. The checkout was conducted in daylight, visual flight conditions, and did not include any actual or simulated instrument flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.