Aviation Crash Map

Cessna 170 N3979V

20 October 2003 · San Diego, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 20 October 2003 at about 00:00 local time, a Cessna 170 registered N3979V, operated by Plus One Flyers, was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 00:00
Classification
Accident
Location
San Diego, California, United States
Nearest airport
Montgomery Field (KMYF)
Coordinates
32.8156, -117.1394
Aircraft
Cessna 170
Registration
N3979V
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Plus One Flyers
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
San Diego → San Diego
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Dusk
NTSB number
LAX04LA020

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection which failed to determine the security of his seat, and his failure to maintain directional control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane ground looped off the runway when the pilot's seat slid aft during landing. The pilot said that when he flared for landing he heard a "click" and then his seat slid backwards about 1 foot, restricting his ability to reach the controls. The pilot tried to adjust his seat position to regain access to the airplane's controls, but the airplane entered a left ground loop and came to rest left of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined and photographed the pilot's seat. He reported that the seat track locking pin was positioned outside the seat track. He observed that the side floor deck was buckled, the seat was structurally deformed, and the seat locking pin was outside the seat rail and roller, all indicative of impact related damage. The inspector stated that he could not make a reliable determination of pin position prior to the impact damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Cessna 170 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
1 May 2003 Cessna 170A
N1607D
Twentynine Palm, California, United States Alvin Couturier No injuries -
21 Aug 2003 Cessna 170
CFGRD
Neche, North Dakota, United States - No injuries -
26 Mar 2003 Cessna 170A
N1228D
Santa Rosa, New Mexico, United States - No injuries -
30 Aug 2003 Cessna 170
N1293D
Seward, Alaska, United States - No injuries -
29 Mar 2003 Cessna 170A
N5577C
Hobbs, New Mexico, United States - No injuries -
24 Jun 2003 Cessna 170B
N4478B
Widener, Arkansas, United States - No injuries -

All 1,985 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jan 2003 Cessna 414
N127WW
Palm Springs, California, United States - Serious injuries -
15 Nov 2003 Omf OMF-100-160
N290MF
Van Nuys, California, United States Alliance International Serious injuries -
16 Jan 2003 Cessna 152
N25562
Salinas, California, United States Squadron 2 No injuries -
17 Nov 2003 Beechcraft A36TC
N52AM
Visalia, California, United States John Rodgers Minor injuries -
22 Sep 2003 Cessna 150F
N3093X
Reedley, California, United States - No injuries -
27 Sep 2003 McClanahan STITS PLAYMATE SA-11
N9YC
Fontana, California, United States - Fatal 2

All 170,864 records in United States