Cessna 310D N6780T
4 May 1996 · Los Angeles, California, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 4 May 1996 at about 04:07 local time, a Cessna 310D registered N6780T, operated by Prism Aviation, was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, California, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 04:07
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Los Angeles International (LAX)
- Coordinates
- 33.9510, -118.4004
- Aircraft
- Cessna 310D
- Registration
- N6780T
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Prism Aviation
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Phonenix → Unknown
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Night/Dark
- NTSB number
- LAX96FA189
People
4 people died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
failure of the pilot to maintain aircraft control due to spatial disorientation. Factors were clouds and dark night light conditions, and the pilot's diverted attention due to a landing gear problem.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot elected to go-around due to an unsafe gear indication during a night landing. The air traffic controller asked the pilot if he needed assistance. The pilot responded, 'we're going to find the error.' The airplane climbed into a cloud layer and was later observed descending out of the clouds in a nose down attitude. The airplane impacted the ocean about 3 miles west of the airport. There was no evidence found of mechanical failure or malfunction with the airplane.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna 310 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Oct 1996 | Cessna 310Q | Truckee, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 18 Apr 1996 | Cessna 310D | Palmetto, Georgia, United States | Bruce D. Willis | No injuries | - |
| 31 Oct 1996 | Cessna 310H | Show Low, Arizona, United States | Martin J. Stuart | No injuries | - |
| 15 Mar 1996 | Cessna 310R | Winder, Georgia, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 22 May 1996 | Cessna 310C | Los Lunas, New Mexico, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 20 Mar 1996 | Cessna 310R | Marshfield, Wisconsin, United States | - | No injuries | - |
All 1,745 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar 1996 | Maule M-6-235 | Bishop, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1996 | Cessna 210A | Truckee, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 8 Mar 1996 | Cessna 152 | Santa Paula, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 3 Oct 1996 | Piper PA-28-140 | Plymouth, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 13 Mar 1996 | Cessna T210M | Grass Valley, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 14 Mar 1996 | Cessna 172L | Napa, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |