Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90802
Thursday, February 15, 2001 15:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A midair collision occurred between the Cessna 152 and a Cessna 172, which were flying between 800 and 1,000 feet above the ocean in an established student training practice area. The flight instructors and their respective students lost control of their airplanes, which descended into the ocean and sank. An eyewitness in a ship observed the airplanes seconds prior to the collision. The witness stated that "one plane appeared to bank and turn directly into the other plane." Another witness, who was airborne in a helicopter, reported that before the impact he had observed one of the airplanes performing counterclockwise orbits, like a turn about a point ground reference maneuver. This airplane had completed several circles when it collided with another airplane that was flying in a westerly direction. Neither the Cessna 152's empennage nor the Cessna 172's engine was recovered. Radar tracks for the airplanes could not be determined. The collision occurred in a near head-on trajectory, based upon the severity of the impact damage to the leading edge of the Cessna 152's right wing, the lack of impact damage in the Cessna 172's aft fuselage and empennage, the witness statements, and the locations where the airplanes were found (the Cessna 152 was west of the Cessna 172).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the flight crews of both airplanes to maintain adequate visual lookout for traffic.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/15/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Long Beach |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90802 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334301N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181052W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 58 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15179 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 15 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1605 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Long Beach, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N68763 | N4686G |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA101A | LAX01FA101B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 152 | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15282363 | 17273312 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 19 2001 12:00AM | Dec 19 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 66 | 87 |
| Airframe Hours | 14147 | 7195 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael W. Ford | William & June Fable |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Long Beach | Huntington Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90803 | 92646 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Candace A. Larned Enterprises, Inc. | Candace A. Larned Enterprises, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2631 E. Spring Street | 2631 E. Spring Street |
| Operator City | Long Beach | Long Beach |
| Operator State | CA | CA |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90808 | 90808 |
| Operator Code | LBCA | LBCA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LGB | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA | CA |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1513 | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LGB | LGB |
| Destination City | Long Beach | Long Beach |
| Destination State | CA | CA |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 17 2003 3:00PM | Nov 17 2003 3:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- | -- |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |