Cessna 310K N711CG

Summary

On 21 September 1998 at about 01:25 local time, a Cessna 310K registered N711CG was involved in an accident near Saugus, California, 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

21 September 1998 at 01:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Saugus, California, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 310K

Registration

N711CG

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lancaster → Van Nuys

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX98FA296

2 people died.

the pilot's in-flight loss of control which led to a subsequent structural airframe failure as the pilot exceeded the design stress limits of the airplane during an attempted recovery.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument rated private pilot and two passengers were returning from the Reno Air Races where they had participated as pylon spotters. The destination airport was overcast with low stratus clouds. The pilot checked three mountain passes for a visual route into the coastal basin without success and diverted to an airport on the desert side of the coastal mountains for additional fuel and to file an IFR flight plan into the basin. One passenger chose to disembark and the pilot and remaining passenger departed. Recorded radar data and air-to-ground communications tapes between the airplane and the ATC facilities that worked the flight were obtained and disclosed that the pilot responded to heading and altitude instructions. While on vectors to intercept the destination ILS, the controller took the aircraft through the final approach twice for spacing with a preceding airplane. The mode C report displayed a 6,000-foot altitude as the controller issued an instruction to reduce to final approach speed and then turn right to a new heading. The secondary beacon target began the right turn and radar contact was lost with the airplane. The last recorded mode C report displayed 6,100 feet mean sea level. Witnesses near the impact site heard an airplane in the low overcast estimated to be 800 to 1,000 feet above ground level. The airplane sound was changing as though it was orbiting or turning. The witnesses then saw the airplane descending out of the clouds in a nose down attitude. The airplane appeared to start a pullout when a noise was heard and the airplane tail appeared to break apart. Fragmented components of the tail assembly were recovered from various locations and distances from the wreckage site. Reconstruction of the wreckage found no abnormal conditions in either the aircraft structure or flight instruments.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.