Cessna 152 N957AF

Summary

On 2 October 1998 at about 03:13 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N957AF, operated by Interwings Corporation, was involved in an accident near San Jose, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 1998 at 03:13

Classification

Accident

Location

San Jose, California, United States

Coordinates

37.3404, -121.9007

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N957AF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Interwings Corporation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Oakdale → Reed Hill View

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX99LA002

1 person had minor injuries.

Continued VFR flight by the pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) at night over mountainous terrain. The pilot's use of unclear language when stating his intentions to air traffic control was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The aircraft collided with mountainous terrain about 3,000 feet msl while descending from 4,500 feet toward the destination airport on a dark night. Weather reports showed consistent overcast cloud bases of 2,800 feet in the immediate area of the accident site. A review of the ATC tape revealed that the pilot did not clearly state his intentions when speaking with air traffic control. ATC had to ask him several times what he said and told him that they did not understand him. Interviews conducted with ATC controllers revealed that they were unsure exactly what the pilot intentions were other than to land at Reed Hillview airport. Weather in the area was deteriorating and ATC was in the process of sequencing traffic for IFR approaches into nearby airports. At one point ATC asked the pilot if he was going to find a hole and descend. The pilot stated affirmative. When radio and radar contact was lost, the controller asked a police helicopter flying near the last observed position to search for the airplane that had disappeared off the radar. The helicopter pilot told the controller that he was unable to proceed to the location due to clouds obscuring the ridges. The pilot stated he could hear a helicopter above him but could not see it because of poor visibility.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.