Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Santa Monica Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Monica, California 90405
Friday, August 10, 2012 18:11 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 10, 2012, about 1811 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N41KA, impacted trees and terrain about 3 miles northeast of the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California. The private pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage in the post impact fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed SMO about 1745, and no flight plan had been filed.
According to a Los Angeles City firefighter/paramedic, he was about a block away clearing a call when he heard tree branches snapping. He turned around and saw the accident airplane in a nose down attitude. The airplane struck a 30-foot-tall palm tree, rotated 90 degrees, and dropped straight down. The airplane was then involved in a post-crash fire. The witness stated that he did not recall hearing the sound of the airplane’s engine.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (NTSB IIC) and an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded to the accident site. The accident path was along a heading of 140 degrees magnetic (S. Glendon Avenue). Several trees were impacted along the path by the airplane before it impacted a palm tree. The investigation team noted a witness mark on the top 1/3 of the palm tree. The entire airplane came to rest at the accident site.
The airplane was recovered and taken to a secure facility for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1811 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Santa Monica |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90405 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340245N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182555W |
| Event Location Airport | Santa Monica Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SMO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 177 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1751 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 15 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SMO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 177 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.69 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2012 1:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41KA |
| NTSB Number | WPR12FA349 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000045 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCMILLAN M SEAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA MONICA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90404-5524 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MCMILLAN M SEAN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SANTA MONICA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 90404-5524 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SMO |
| Departure City | Santa Monica |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1744 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SMO |
| Destination City | Santa Monica |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2012 1:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 4973 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |