# Accident 19980319003922A: Cessna 152, Corona, CA, March 19, 1998

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 19, 1998, 16:59 local time
- Place: Corona, CA
- Airport: Corona Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Collision: Midair collision, second aircraft
- Phase of flight: In Traffic Pattern-Circling
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 33.8689° N, 117.5988° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs from the FAA’s distance and direction from , within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.8689&lon=-117.5988&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6575L, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6575L-2006-11-09) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 152 (registry code 2071835, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-152) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming 0-235 series (registry code 41505, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-235-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 152
- Reported engine: LYC O235L2C
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 2,020 total
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX98FA118](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX98FA118) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980319003922A

## Narrative

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

TURNING DOWNWIND IN PATTERN WAS STRUCK BY 310. 310RR THAT WAS ENTERING INTO PATTERN POSSIBLY SUN BLINDED. TOWER INO (.4)A CESSNA 310 AND A CESSNA 152 COLLIDED IN-FLIGHT ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTH OF THE CORONA AIRPORT AT 2,600 FEET MEAN SEA LEVEL (ABOUT 2,000 ABOVE GROUND LEVEL).  THE CESSNA 310, WITH TWO PILOTS ABOARD, WAS DESCENDING TOWARD ANOTHER NEARBY AREA AIRPORT, AND THE CESSNA 152, FLOWN BY A CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR (THE SOLE OCCUPANT) FROM THE RIGHT SEAT, WAS ORBITING SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT AWAITING THE REOPENING OF THE RUNWAY FOLLOWING CONSTRUCTION.  RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT IN THE 1 MINUTE 18 SECONDS PRIOR TO THE COLLISION, THE CESSNA 310 DESCENDED FROM 4,000 FEET TO THE COLLISION POINT ON A SOUTHEAST BOUND GROUND TRACK AT A RATE OF ABOUT 1,200 FEET PER MINUTE.  NINE SECONDS PRIOR TO THE COLLISION, THE CESSNA 152, WHICH HAD BEEN ON A WESTBOUND TRACK, BEGAN A RIGHT TURN TOWARD A NORTHWEST BOUND GROUND TRACK.  OVER THE 1 MINUTE 18 SECOND PERIOD, THE HORIZONTAL SEPARATION DECREASED FROM 6.01 NAUTICAL MILES TO ZERO AS THE VERTICAL SEPARATION DECREASED 1,400 FEET.  RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TWO AIRPLANES REVEALED THAT AT THE POINT OF COLLISION, THE CESS                                  NA 310'S LATERAL AXIS WAS ABOUT 80 DEGREES TO THE CESSNA 152'S VERTICAL AXIS AS THE 310'S OUTER RIGHT WING AND TIP TANK CONTACTED THE 152'S LEFT MAIN STRUT, LEFT STRUT AND INBOARD LEFT WING. IN THE 1 MINUTE PRIOR TO THE COLLISION, THE RELATIVE HORIZONTAL BEARING FROM THE CESSNA 310 GROUND TRACK TO THE CESSNA 152 WAS BETWEEN 8 AND 10 DEGREES LEFT OF THE TRACK.  DURING THIS SAME PERIOD, THE RELATIVE HORIZONTAL BEARING FROM THE CESSNA 152 GROUND TRACK TO THE CESSNA 310 VARIED BETWEEN 25 DEGREES AND 40 DEGREES RIGHT OF THE CESSNA 152 GROUND TRACK AS IT MANEUVERED PRIOR TO THE RIGHT TURN.  TRIGONOMETRIC CALCULATION OF ALTITUDE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TARGETS YIELDED A 2 DEGREE 10 MINUTE RELATIVE VERTICAL ANGLE BETWEEN THE TARGET POSITIONS.

## Other aircraft in the event

- N310RR, Cessna 310H: [Accident 19980319003921A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980319003921A)

## 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 LAX98FA118](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX98FA118), Mar 20, 1998: Cessna 152 (N6575L), Corona, CA, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: The failure of both pilots to maintain an adequate visual lookout and to see and avoid the other airplane.

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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