Cessna A150M N8166V

Summary

On 31 July 2005 at about 23:15 local time, a Cessna A150M registered N8166V was involved in an accident near Trinity Center, 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

31 July 2005 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Trinity Center, California, United States

Nearest airport

Trinity Center Airport (O86)

Coordinates

40.9667, -122.6833

Aircraft

Cessna A150M

Registration

N8166V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Trinity Center → Weed

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05CA257

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's failure to select an adequate altitude, which would assure clearance from the mountainous terrain while flying into a box canyon in high density altitude conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with mountainous terrain during an en route climb on a course that took it into a box canyon. After a day of physical exertion, the pilot departed from the airport and headed for a pass in mountainous terrain. He noted that the temperature at the 2,390-foot mean sea level (msl) airport was about 90-degrees Fahrenheit. As he approached the pass, about 20 minutes into the flight, he realized that deceptively level-looking terrain below was in actuality the relatively steep walls of a narrowing canyon. The pilot noted the air becoming more turbulent and an increase in downdraft conditions. He attempted to maneuver the airplane out of the canyon, but did not have adequate altitude and made a forced landing onto a logging road, at an elevation of about 6,000 feet msl. Prior to touchdown, the left wing impacted a tree and the airplane subsequently landed hard on the road. The pilot egressed the airplane as it became engulfed in flames. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. Using the standard lapse rate of 3-degrees Celsius per 1,000 feet of altitude, the density altitude was calculated to be about 8,600 feet at the accident site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.