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LAX82AA235 · Cessna 320B

26 Jun 1982 · San Jose, CA, United States

Cessna 320B and Cessna 172M · Accident: midair collision on approach

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Event

NTSB case
LAX82AA235
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
3 · 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 320B

Aircraft type
Cessna 320
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
N510BC
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From San Gabriel Valley Airport (EMT), El Monte, CATo P34 · Window Rock, AZ
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
Approach · VFR pattern downwind
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 172M

Aircraft type
Cessna 172
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
N70072
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), San Jose, CATo Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
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
Approach · VFR pattern downwind
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 › Go-around, improper
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Go-around, improper
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

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

NTSB narrative

THE C-172M HAD DEPARTED REID-HILLVIEW ARPT (6 MI EAST) & IMPROPERLY ENTERED A RIGHT DOWNWIND FOR RWY 30R AT SAN JOSE. THE C-320B HAD EXECUTED A GO-AROUND FROM RWY 30R DUE TO OTHER TRAFFIC & WAS IN A CLIMBING TURN ALSO ENTERING DOWNWIND FOR RWY 30R. THE C-320B WAS OBSERVED IN A STEEP CLIMBING RIGHT TURN ON A "CROSSWIND" LEG. THE C-172M WAS ROLLING OUT OF A LEFT BANK TURN & WAS AT ABOUT A 15 DEG LEFT BANK WHEN IT WAS OBSERVED TO ROLL INTO ABOUT A 30 DEG IMMEDIATE LEFT BANK & PITCH UP ABOUT 15 DEG JUST PRIOR TO THE COLLISION. THE C-320B INITIALLY ROLLED INTO ABOUT A 30 DEG RIGHT BANKING TURN DURING THE "CROSSWIND" MANEUVER, THEN CONTINUED TO INCREASE BANK TO ABOUT 60 DEG AT THE TIME OF THE COLLISION. ABOUT 1,500 FT OF RWY 30R WAS REMAINING WHEN THE C-320B EXECUTED THE "CROSSWIND" TURN. THE TOWER CONTROLLER DID NOT OBSERVE THE C-320B'S CLIMBING RIGHT TURN, & EXPECTED IT TO EXECUTE A STANDARD GO-AROUND. THE AIRMAN'S INFORMATION MANUAL STATES IF REMAINING IN PATTERN, COMMENCE TURN TO CROSSWIND LEG BEYOND DEPARTURE END OF RWY WITHIN 300 FT OF PATTERN ALTITUDE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX82AA235
Event ID
20020917X03514
Case number
LAX82AA235
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: f144778f744d82f8d66d5bfac564f14fbc94f94bd448f92ac2433dbb225666d7; retrieved 2026-09-21T08:11:06.832Z.