Cessna 172H N4959R

Summary

On 12 December 2000 at about 03:30 local time, a Cessna 172H registered N4959R was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 December 2000 at 03:30

Classification

Accident

Location

San Diego, California, United States

Nearest airport

Brown Field (SDM)

Coordinates

32.5500, -117.0408

Aircraft

Cessna 172H

Registration

N4959R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

North Island → Brown Field

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX01LA052

2 people were seriously injured.

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and weather evaluation that resulted in the inadvertant entry into instrument meteorological conditions while conducting visual flight. A factor was fog and the night visual conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot filed a visual flight plan to practice night landings. He contacted the tower about 1930, when approximately 5 miles west of the airport, and reported inbound for touch-and-go landings. The pilot was instructed to enter a right downwind for runway 26R, and to change to the correct frequency. The pilot said he did not have the current Automated Terminal Information Service (ATIS) for weather information, and was given the current weather after he changed frequencies. The controller noticed the airplane just west of "Poggi" VOR (2.3 nautical miles north of the runways), and it appeared to be headed northbound away from the airport. The controller asked the pilot if he had the airport in sight and he responded he did not, but that he was practicing some maneuvers and was a little busy in the cockpit. A couple of minutes later the airplane was observed to be about 7 miles north. The controller advised the pilot to report the prison if he was still inbound for a right base entry for runway 26R. The next readable transmission from the airplane was "encountering some soup." According to the operator, upon entering clouds, the pilot started a 75 mph climb, followed by a right turn just before impact. The pilot did not respond to additional calls from the controller and was no longer observed on the D-Brite radar system. The airplane had collided with a 2,791-foot mountain about 7 miles north of the intended airport. According to VFR charts, the maximum elevation figure for the accident quadrangle/sector is 4,100 feet mean sea level.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.