# Accident 19950205001039A: Cessna 310L, Valparaiso, IN, February 5, 1995

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 5, 1995, 11:01 local time
- Place: Valparaiso, IN
- Airport: Porter County Municipal
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Descent
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 41.4540° N, 87.0071° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PORTER COUNTY RGNL (VPZ), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.4540&lon=-87.0071&mi=10
- Aircraft: N157JW, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N157JW-2013-10-31) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 310L (registry code 2074230, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-310l) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-470 series (registry code 17044, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-470-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 310L
- Reported engine: CONT IO470VO
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 700 total, 40 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CHI95FA082](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI95FA082) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19950205001039A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

LOW TIME IFR PILOT LOST CONTROL IFR IN HEAVY SNOW SHOWERS. INDICATES SPATIAL DISORIENTATION AND SPIRAL DIVE ENSUED. (-23) ON FEBRUARY 5, 1995, AT 1101 CST, A CESSNA 310L, N157JW, REGISTERED TO JAMES M. WRIGHT, COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND WHILE IN A DESCENT, NEAR VALPARAISO, INDIANA, WHILE ON A PERSONAL FLIGHT FROM PONTIAC, MICHIGAN (PNT) ENROUTE TO CHICAGO MIDWAY (MDW). IFR METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED IN THE CRASH AREA AND AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED AND THE PILOT, MR. JAMES M. WRIGHT, THE REGISTERED OWNER AND ONLY OCCUPANT, SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED AT PONTIAC, MICHIGAN ON FEBRUARY 5, 1995, AT 1058 EST (0958 CST).

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CHI95FA082](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI95FA082), Feb 5, 1995: Cessna 310L (N157JW), Valparaiso, IN, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: spatial disorientation of the pilot while descending into the clouds. Factors were the moderate turbulance and snow.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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