# NTSB WPR25LA250: De Havilland DHC-6-300, N344CS, San Celmente, CA, August 11, 2025

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Preliminary report
- Date: August 11, 2025, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place: San Celmente, CA
- Coordinates: 33.0228, -118.58761
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.0228&lon=-118.5876&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 18 uninjured
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Western Pacific Region
- Parties: Hartzell, FAA
- NTSB case key (mKey): 200764
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR25LA250
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/200764/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR25LA250

## Preliminary report

On August 11, 2025, at 1130 Pacific daylight time, a De Havilland DHC-6-300, N344CS, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at San Clemente Island, California. The 2 pilots and 16 passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Part 135 on-demand air taxi flight. According to the operator, the flight was uneventful until approximately 10 seconds prior to touchdown. About 15-20 ft above ground level and an airspeed of about 95 knots, the airplane began to yaw hard to the left and pitched nose down. The left wing struck the runway and the first officer, who was the pilot flying, banked to the right and the airplane touched down hard onto the runway. Upon touchdown, the captain took control of the airplane and tried to maintain directional control by using nosewheel steering, however, the airplane turned left and exited the runway surface. The airplane came to rest upright, the flight crew shut the engines down, and the occupants egressed from the airplane. About 1/3 of the outboard portion of the left wing and about 1/2 of the left aileron had separated. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the No. 1 (left) engine propeller beta ring was fragmented, with multiple pieces of the beta ring contained within the engine cowling. The airplane and the recovered beta ring fragments were retained for further examination.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240) (defining event); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-6-300, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md?model=2802630), [All aircraft, 5,002 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N344CS](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N344CS), registered now, S/N 334, built 1971 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: DE HAVILLAND DHC-6-300
- Registry model: [Dehavilland DHC-6-300](https://openairdocs.org/model/dehavilland-dhc-6-300) (registry code 2802630) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-34-series) (registry code 52143, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 334
- Year built: 1971
- Airframe hours: 35700
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Part 135
- Operator: Rampart Aviation
- Registered owner: Transport Company LLC
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, August 8, 2025
- Departed: KNZY, NAS North Island, CA
- Destination: Same as departure
- Flight plan: IFR
- Airport: NUC, San Clemente Island Nalf, runway 06/24, 9,301 × 200 ft, concrete
- Equipment: Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Onboard weather

## Weather

- Conditions: Instrument (IMC), Day
- Wind: 240° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 600 ft overcast
- Temperature: 66 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Observed at: KNUC, 0.2 nm away

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20250811011519A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250811011519A), Aug 11, 2025: Dehavilland DHC-6-300, San Clemente Is, CA, Substantial damage. Both left and right propellers were installed after overhaul, the low pitch blade angles were adjusted and the beta rods jam nuts were safety wired in error.…

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.

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