# Accident 20050407007539A: Cessna T210L, Tranquility, CA, April 7, 2005

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 7, 2005, 09:09 local time
- Place: Tranquility, CA
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 36.6367° N, 120.4003° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.6367&lon=-120.4003&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8126L, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8126L-2006-04-06) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna T210L (registry code 2073449, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-t210l) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental TSIO-520 series (registry code 17040, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-520-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA T210L
- People aboard: 3
- Fatal injuries: 3
- Pilot flight hours: 576 total, 2 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX05FA132](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05FA132) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050407007539A

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON APRIL 7, 2005 A CESSNA T210N CRASHED NEAR TRANQUILITY, CA AT APPROXIMATELY 9:05 AM LOCAL TIME. THE THREE OCCUPANTS ON BOARD SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES. TWO WITNESSES STATED THAT THEY WERE INSIDE THE WESTLANDS WATER DISTRICT BUILDING NEAR THE MAIN WRECKAGE IMPACT POINT WHEN THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF AN ENGINE FOLLOWED BY A LOUD REPORT/EXPLOSION THAT SHOOK THE BUILDING. THEY WENT OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING AND HEARD A BRIEF ENGINE SOUND. THEY BOTH LOOKED UP TO THE SKY AND SURROUNDING AREA AND INITIALLY DIDN'T NOTICE ANYTHING, BUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER THEY OBSERVED OBJECTS FALLING OUT OF THE CLOUD BASE. SOME OF THE OBJECTS DRIFTED IN A SOUTHEAST DIRECTION AND IMPACTED THE GROUND SOUTH OF THEM. THE WITNESSES STATED WINDS WERE LIGHT FROM THE NORTHWEST AND LIGHT RAIN HAD FALLEN SHORTLY BEFORE THEY OBSERVED THE EVENTS.

## 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 LAX05FA132](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05FA132), Apr 7, 2005: Cessna T210L (N8126L), Tranquility, CA, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: the pilot's in-flight loss of control due to spatial disorientation and a likely accumulation of airframe ice that led to a high speed descent and a structural breakup once the aerodynamic forces…

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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