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LAX93FA055 · Cessna T210M

29 Nov 1992 · Thornton, CA, United States

Cessna T210M and Cessna 180 · Accident: midair collision en route

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Event

NTSB case
LAX93FA055
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
5 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Cessna T210M

Aircraft type
Cessna 210
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N784RF
Operator
Franich, Russell · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC), Sacramento, CATo Camarillo International Airport (CMA), Camarillo, CA
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · climb to cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Aircraft 2 · Cessna 180

Aircraft type
Cessna 180
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N3313D
Operator
Wallace, Bennie · private individual
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Perris Valley Airport (L65), Perris, CATo 2Q3 · Woodland, CA
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

AFTER DEPARTURE FROM SACRAMENTO, THE PLT OF THE C-210, N784RF, HAD DECLINED FURTHER RADAR TRAFFIC ADVISORIES, AND WAS CLIMBING ON ABOUT A 152 DEG HEADING. THE PILOT HAD CHANGED RADIO FREQ, AND WAS RECEIVING WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR HIS DESTINATION AIRPORT. THE C-180, N3313D, WAS IN CRUISE FLIGHT AT 3,100 FT ON ABOUT A 307 DEG HEADING, AND THE PILOT HAD JUST TERMINATED HIS PARTICIPATION IN RECEIVING RADAR TRAFFIC ADVISORIES FROM THE STOCKTON TRACON. THE TWO AIRPLANES COLLIDED NEAR HEAD-ON ABOUT HALF WAY BETWEEN TWO TRACON FACILITIES. THE RIGHT WING OF THE C-210 CONTACTED THE LEFT WING OF THE C-180, AND BOTH WINGS SEPARATED ABOUT MID-SPAN IN ABOUT A 90-DEG ORIENTATION FROM EACH OTHER. VISIBILITY WAS REPORTED AS 10 MI IN HAZE. OTHER PILOTS REPORTED THAT SMOKE LIMITED VISIBILITY FROM 1 TO 5 MI IN THE AREA. BOTH AIRPLANES HAD MODE C ALTITUDE ENCODING, AND BOTH WERE DEPICTED ON RADAR PRIOR TO THE COLLISION.

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOTS OF BOTH AIRPLANES TO SEE AND AVOID EACH OTHER. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FAILURE OF THE SACRAMENTO CONTROLLER TO ADVISE THE STOCKTON CONTROLLER OF THE IMPENDING UNSAFE SITUATION, AND THE FAILURE OF THE STOCKTON CONTROLLER TO ISSUE A TRAFFIC ADVISORY AND A SAFETY ALERT TO THE PILOT OF THE C-180, N3313D.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX93FA055
Event ID
20001211X16051
Case number
LAX93FA055
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: c471bb76dea030be1426ed6daff459c568072c9eaaded9789e9f48a7f69b7796; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:47:47.207Z.