ACTUAL ATC RECORDING FROM N79NL CRASH

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On January 20, 1999, at 1527 mountain standard time (mst)*, a Cessna P210, N79NL, was destroyed when it broke up in flight and collided with terrain in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness Area, near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The instrument rated private pilot and two passengers were fatally injured.

Eleven witnesses, six of whom submitted written statements, reported seeing a wing separate from the airplane, then observed the airplane spiral vertically to the ground.

The wreckage was spread out in a fan-shaped pattern on a heading of 155 degrees. The propeller blades were buried in the ground underneath the engine. Next to the engine was the instrument panel. Nearby lay the wing carry-through spar with the left portion lying to the left of the flight path. Just beyond were portions of the left wing. The fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, elevator, and vertical stabilizer lay nearby.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

Total failure of the vacuum system, and failure of the pilot to maintain aircraft control, resulting in wing spar failure. Factors were the pilot's spatial disorientation, and his exceeding the design stress limits of the airplane.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• SPATIAL
• DISORIENTATION
• CRASH
• AIRPLANEPA