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LAX82FA279 · Cessna 152

27 Jul 1982 · Morgan Hill, CA, United States

Business Aircraft Center Cessna 152 and Jim Dill'S Aviation World Cessna 172M · Accident: midair collision while maneuvering

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Event

NTSB case
LAX82FA279
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
2 · 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 152

Aircraft type
Cessna 152
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
N5090Q
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, CATo Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, 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
Maneuvering
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
Substantial

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
N20100
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, CATo Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, 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

A CESSNA 152, N5090Q AND A CESSNA 172, N20100 COLLIDED IN FLIGHT WHILE THE AIRCREWS OF BOTH AIRCRAFT WERE ON LOCAL DUAL INSTRUCTIONAL FLIGHTS. THE STUDENT IN THE CESSNA 152 WAS PRACTICING A RECOVERY FROM AN UNUSUAL ATTITUDE AFTER THE INSTRUCTOR (IP) PUT THE PLANE IN A LEFT DESCENDING TURN. THE STUDENT HAD HIS HEAD DOWN WHILE THE IP WAS POSITIONING THE AIRCRAFT. AS THE RIGHT WING CAME DOWN DURING THE RECOVERY, THE IP SAW THE CESSNA 172 ON A COLLISION COURSE, BUT DID NOT HAVE TIME TO AVOID A COLLISION. THE CESSNA 172 HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN MANEUVERING AND CHANGING DIRECTIONS, BUT HAD BEEN ON THE SAME HEADING FOR ABOUT 1 MIN PRIOR TO IMPACT. THE PLANES CONVERGED ON ONE ANOTHER FROM A QUARTERING HEAD-ON DIRECTION AT ABOUT 3000 FT. AFTER THE COLLISION, THE IP OF THE CESSNA 152 TOOK CONTROL OF HIS AIRCRAFT AND MADE A SUCCESSFUL LANDING IN AN OPEN FIELD, BUT THE CESSNA 172 CRASHED.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX82FA279
Event ID
20020917X03685
Case number
LAX82FA279
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: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1982-07-28.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 4c40134d41da5f6edeb407dc645abd068d811fdc2dfcf9dfda520dcd0db7eed8; retrieved 2026-09-21T08:02:07.891Z.