- Date
- July 22, 1983, 09:05 local (16:05 UTC)
- Place
- Watsonville, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5517CCessna T210N
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 23476
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt, who was a contractor, was scheduled to attend a heavy equip't auction in sacramento to begin a 1000. Witnesses heard normal eng sounds as the acft departed rwy 19 & turned to a left downwind departure turn. The acft was observed proceeding on a NE heading, paralleling hwy 152 at about 500 ft AGL going straight toward where it ended up on a hillside. Another witness observed the acft flying beneath the clouds & then enter the clouds in a climb near the base of the hill. Arpt based plts described the departure as one of two 'bootleg' IFR climb procedures commonly used by many local plts during low stratus conditions. The plt had been observed using the 'highway 152 climb' many times during the preceeding years. There is no record of the plt attempting to obtain a 'pop-up' IFR to VFR clearance. The plt flew an average of 2 hrs each working day.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5517C
- Reported as
- Cessna T210N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 63775
- Airframe hours
- 1,668
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520-R, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Donald R. Watson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 28, 1983 · 356 hours before
- Destination
- SAC · Sacramento, CA
- Airport
- WVI · Watsonville, runway 19, 4,501 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 7,500 total · 2,800 in this make and model · 7,400 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg