Six Feared Lost In Cessna 414 Crash

Twin crashed in ocean after pilot issued Mayday.

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Key Takeaways:

  • A Cessna 414 crashed into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, killing all six people on board.
  • The plane, en route to Phoenix from San Diego, experienced difficulties maintaining altitude and heading shortly after takeoff.
  • ADS-B data indicated a rapid descent and erratic flight path before impact.
  • Weather conditions at the time of the crash included overcast skies, light winds, and a temperature of 66 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Six people aboard an Arizona-based Cessna 414 are presumed dead after the aircraft crashed at high speed into the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on Sunday. The aircraft, registered to a supplement business in Pima, Arizona, was on a flight to Phoenix when it went down a few minutes after takeoff.

The aircraft took off from Runway 27 at SAN at 12:25 (19:25 UTC) on a flight to Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport, Arizona (PHX). After receiving instructions to turn to a heading of 180 after departure, the pilot radioed that they “struggled to maintain heading and altitude,” the narrative in the Aviation Safety Network said. “ADS-B data show that the aircraft entered a descending left turn, losing 1900 feet in 13 seconds. The aircraft began to climb again, but ADS-B data show an erratic altitude and heading until the moment the aircraft impacted the surface of the water, six minutes after it had commenced the takeoff roll.” It was overcast with light winds and a temperature of 66 degrees and dew point of 59 at the time of the crash. Patchy fog had been forecast for the area but it’s not clear if that fog had developed.


Russ Niles

Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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Replies: 4

  1. Avatar for DaveP DaveP says:

    ANOTHER TWIN locked into left turns crashes…

    Not saying I know something, but it’s odd.

  2. IMC after departure and attitude instrument issues?

  3. Avatar for DaveP DaveP says:

    Yeah, that’s possible. It looks like he entered a death spiral twice and caught himself. He may have had a bad instrument lying to him and became disoriented.

  4. Who’s the bad pilot?

    Ahmedabad pilot !

    Terrible joke, but it someone was gonna do it..

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