- Date
- September 23, 2025, 14:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fallbrook, CA · Los Jilgueros Preserve
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N766EECessna 182N
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Off-field or emergency landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20250923015269A
- Case key
- 201727
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On September 23, 2025, about 1400 Pacific daylight time, N766EE, a Cessna 182N, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Fallbrook, California. The pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, he purchased fuel at French Valley Airport (F70), Murrieta, California (F70), and departed about 1353. After takeoff, he flew southbound, toward Fallbrook Community Airpark (L18), Fallbrook, California, and flew a straight in approach to runway 18. As the airplane was less than one mile from runway 18, he attempted to increase engine power using the throttle, however, the engine power remained the same. He advanced the throttle position a second time and turned off the carburetor heat, with no change in engine power. The pilot realized that the airplane was too low to reach the runway and initiated an emergency landing on a divided highway, with partial engine power. The airplane landed on the southbound lanes and during the landing roll, the left wing impacted a tree, along the center divider. Subsequently, the airplane veered left, exited the roadway, nosed over, and came to rest inverted, on an embankment adjacent to the northbound lanes of the roadway. Postaccident examination revealed that the fuselage, both wings, and empennage sustained substantial damage. The wreckage was recovered to a secure location for further examination.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N766EE
- Reported as
- Cessna 182N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18260217
- Built
- 1970
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- F70 · Murrieta, CA
- Destination
- L18 · Fallbrook, CA
- Airport
- L18 · Fallbrook Community Airpark, runway 18/36, 2,150 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.81 inHg
- Observed at
- KNFG, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KNFG 232052Z 20009KT 10SM SCT120 28/18 A2981
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.