Cessna 340 Down in San Diego area w/video

[PHXPhlyer]

Video shows moment plane fell from sky, exploded in residential area near San Diego
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, which left the pilot of the plane and a UPS driver dead. The agency was expected to be on scene Tuesday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/vi ... r-n1281313

New video shows the moment a twin-engine Cessna fell from the sky and burst into flames in a residential neighborhood near San Diego, killing at least two people and destroying homes.

The 13-second video, taken from a balcony Monday afternoon, shows the plane nosedive, hit the ground and explode.

Witnesses told NBC San Diego that the Cessna C340 slid down Greencastle Street in Santee before its wing clipped a UPS truck. Then, the plane's fuselage dislodged and barreled toward homes.

The driver of the UPS truck, who has not been identified, was killed, the company said in a statement.

The pilot and owner of the plane, Dr. Sugata Das, a cardiologist from Arizona, also died.

A family friend told NBC San Diego that Das worked at Yuma Regional Medical Center but lived in San Diego, and flew back and forth often.

"As an outstanding cardiologist and dedicated family man, Dr. Das leaves a lasting legacy," the hospital said in a statement.

Santee Deputy Fire Chief Justin Matsushita said that two homes were decimated in the crash and multiple vehicles caught fire. The debris field stretched more than a block, he said, and power was cut to 10 homes while first responders combed through the wreckage.

Two people were injured and taken to local hospitals, he said.

It was unclear if anyone else was on the plane, but Matsushita said "that the injuries are nonsurvivable for anyone that was on that plane." The Cessna C340 is a six-seater plane.

"Not to be too graphic, but it's a pretty brutal scene for our guys and we're trying to comb through it," he said.


Small plane crashes into neighborhood near San Diego
OCT. 11, 202100:47
An air traffic controller had warned Das that the plane was too low, according to audio obtained by NBC San Diego.

“Low altitude alert, climb immediately, climb the airplane,” the controller said.

The controller tries repeatedly to instruct Das to climb to 5,000 feet. "You appear to be descending again, sir," the controller can then be heard saying.

The plane was supposed to land at the Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego, according to the flight plan. It crashed a few miles from the Gillespie Field airport.

At least two other people were injured and taken to hospitals, Matsushita said. And in addition to the two destroyed homes, at least five more were damaged.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash, and was expected to be on scene Tuesday.

[PHXPhlyer]

More coverage:

California plane crash: UPS worker among ‘multiple fatalities’ after truck hit
Published 19 hours agoUpdated 11 hours agoNewsFOX 10 Phoenix

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/

SANTEE, Calif. - A small plane crashed in a densely populated San Diego suburb Monday, killing two people, including a UPS driver and an Arizona physician, and leaving a trail of destruction that sent neighbors scrambling to save neighbors. At least two others were injured.

Neighbors described the dramatic rescue of a retired couple from one of two burning homes that were destroyed in Santee, a suburb of 50,000 people. Ten other homes were damaged.

Several vehicles, including the UPS delivery truck, were also torched.

"Not to be too graphic, but it’s a pretty brutal scene," Justin Matsushita, Santee's deputy fire chief, said as firefighters searched the smoldering ruins.

United Parcel Service of America Inc. confirmed one of its workers died.


Plume of Smoke Rises From Site of Plane Crash in Santee, California
California officials reported "multiple burn victims" after a plane crashed near a high school in a San Diego County suburb on October 11. (Credit: Monica Bumblis via Storyful)

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our employee, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends," the company said. "We also send our condolences for the other individuals who are involved in this incident, and their families and friends."

The crash also killed Dr. Sugata Das, who worked at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona, the hospital's chief medical officer said.

"As an outstanding cardiologist and dedicated family man, Dr. Das leaves a lasting legacy legacy," Dr. Bharat Magu said in a statement. "We extend our prayers and support to his family, colleagues, and friends during this difficult time."
Das was director of the Power of Love Foundation, a non-profit organization that is involved in helping women and children overseas that are infected or affected by AIDS and HIV, according to its website.

The website said Das, the father of two boys, lived in San Diego and was the owner of a twin-engine Cessna 340 and an instrument-rated pilot who flew between his home and Yuma.

It was unclear how many people were aboard the plane, although fire officials say nobody aboard would have survived the crash.

The condition of the injured couple wasn't immediately known.


Small plane crashes into UPS truck in San Diego County, sets homes on fire
(Credit: @rgraves22/Twitter)

The plane was heading in to land at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego when it nosedived into the ground. Shortly before, when the plane was about a half-mile from the runway, an air traffic controller alerted the pilot that the aircraft was too low.

"Low altitude alert, climb immediately, climb the airplane," the controller tells the pilot in audio obtained by KSWB-TV.

The controller repeatedly urges the plane to climb to 5,000 feet, and when it remains at 1,500 feet warns: "You appear to be descending again, sir."


'Possible Fatalities' After Plane Crashes in California Suburb
California officials reported "multiple burn victims" and possible fatalities after a plane crashed near a high school in a San Diego County suburb on October 11. (Credit: @SanteeSkyRanch via Storyful)

KGTV, an ABC affiliate, posted video the station said it received from a viewer showing the plane arcing in the sky and then plunging into the neighborhood in a burst of flames.

People a block away from the scene said their homes shook from the thunderous crash. Michael Keeley, 43, ran barefoot outside and saw flames engulfing the UPS truck and a home on the corner. He joined two neighbors at the burning home calling through an open window.

A second home was also in flames. But no one appeared to be home.

With thick smoke inside the home and flames licking the roof, Keeley reached through the window to grab the woman's arm and help her climb out. Her forearms were burned, and her hair was singed, he said.

"I’m glad I didn’t have to go inside with my bare feet," said Keeley, a probation officer.

At the same time, other neighbors knocked down the couple's fence to rescue the woman’s husband from the backyard.

Keeley said after the couple escaped to the sidewalk, the woman pleaded for help for her dog that was believed to be inside the home.

"She kept saying, ‘My puppy, my puppy,’ " he said.

But moments later, there were explosions inside the home. The group helped the couple walk a safe distance away until paramedics arrived.

Andrew Pelloth, 30, lives across the street from the couple and was working from home when he heard a whirring and then a huge boom.

"My initial thought was that it was a meteorite coming down," he said. "I could hear it falling, and then some kind of explosion."

Pelloth looked outside and first saw the UPS truck on fire. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and then joined other neighbors who pulled the boards off the couple's fence to rescue the woman's husband.

Erik Huppert, 57, who ran down to help after his house shook, said he saw the man walking in the backyard after they pulled off the boards.

"Both were definitely in shock, but at least they were alive," said Huppert, a military contractor.

No one was home at the other house that was destroyed, which sold only a month ago, Pelloth said. He met the new owner Monday as he arrived to see the damage.

The plane was a twin-engine Cessna C340, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

It was believed to be a private aircraft flying from Yuma to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego, Santee's deputy fire chief said.

The crash happened about three blocks from Santana High School, which said on Twitter that "all students are secure."

The crash site is a few miles north of Gillespie Field, a small San Diego County airport.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Pretty traumatic for all concerned.

Looks like a complete loss of control in VMC.

https://www.today.com/news/video-shows- ... go-t234022

[TheGreenGoblin]

https://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/268478

Narrative:
A Cessna 340A was destroyed by fire and impact with a UPS delivery car and residential structures about 2 Mi north-northeast of Gillespie Field Airport (SEE/KSEE), at the intersection of Greencastle and Jeremy Streets. San Diego/El Cajon, California.
The pilot sustained fatal injuries. Number of airplane occupants is currently unconfirmed. A UPS delivery driver was fatally injured and two people on the ground sustained serious burn injuries.
The aircraft was originally heading to Montgomery-Gibbs Airport (MYF) but, was diverting to Gillespie Field Airport(SEE) for unknown reasons.


Transcript from LiveATC.net:

SoCal TRACON: 22G turn right heading 250 join final
N7022G: 250 join final for 22G
N7022G: and, uh, 22G did you say cleared for the ILS 28R?
SoCal TRACON: 22G you're 4 miles from PENYY descend and maintain 2,800 until established on the localizer cleared ILS runway 28R circle to land runway 23.
N7022G: uh, cleared for the ILS 28R, uh, uh, for runway 23 22G
SoCal TRACON: yes sir, descend maintain 2,800 until established on the localizer
N7022G: 2,800 until established on the localizer, 22G
SoCal TRACON: 22G, traffic 2 o'clock 3 miles southbound 5,000 descending 4,000's a C-130 they are restricted above you, caution wake turbulence
N7022G: Copy 22G
SoCal TRACON: 22G it looks like you're drifting right of course, are you correcting?
N7022G: Correcting for 22G
N7022G: is 22G cleared for runway 23?
SoCal TRACON: 22G you're not even tracking the localizer, I need you to fly - actually cancel approach clearance climb and maintain 3,000, 22G maintain 3,000 low altitude alert minimum vectoring altitude in your area is 2,800
N7022G: Climbing 22G
SoCal TRACON: 22G climb and maintain 3,800
N7022G: 3,800 two-
SoCal TRACON: 22G turn right 090 re-vectors to final
N7022G: 090 22G
SoCal TRACON: 22G turn right heading 090 climb immediately maintain 4,000
N7022G: (thousand) climb immediately, 22G
SoCal TRACON: 'Kay, it looks like you're descending sir. I need to make sure you are climbing, not descending.
N7022G: 'Golf is climbing
SoCal TRACON: 22G say altitude
N7022G: ***five hundred 22G [final transmission from aircraft]
SoCal TRACON: 22G low altitude alert climb immediately, climb the airplane, maintain 5,000, expedite climb, climb the airplane please
SoCal TRACON: 22G just level out the plane, er, the heading and climb the airplane up to 5,000 when you can sir.
SoCal TRACON: Traffic alert, 22G, 10 o'clock and a half mile, 1,500, you appear to be descending again sir, are you, say your altitude
SoCal TRACON: Twin Cessna 7022G, SoCal approach.

Was he dealing with some sort of in flight emergency that he had not declared? Cleared for IlS 28R for circle to land on runway 23 but he does not establish on the localiser and continues on down, attempting to get into directly at Gillespie field. Did he lose an engine, some control issue? Aircraft is steeply banked to starboard (was he turning into a dead engine), loss of control, and augers straight in.

Was the controller aware of his situation? If so he was about as much help as a chocolate teapot in this instance.

[TheGreenGoblin]

[TheGreenGoblin]

Sounds like TRACON were vectoring him to 28R at Montomery and then he tries to get into Gillespie. He doesn't declare an emergency though. Did he mistake the Montgomery for Gillespie? Unlikely, and given his apparent inability to climb, one must assume that he had some sort of problem but not a peep to the controller.

Looking at the METAR (yes, I did) I now see that the approach would have put him in IMC, I beginning to suspect that he lost spatial orientation in IMC on the way down, and then control, and entered a spiral dive.

Ugly, ugly crash.

[TheGreenGoblin]

[TheGreenGoblin]

Gillespie plates here

[TheGreenGoblin]

Not one comment, from an aviation minded soul here on this accident... not even a rude one... just the tumbleweeds blowing...has it come to this...

[Boac]

I really cannot see what I can usefully add to your accident analysis efforts. It crashed?

[TheGreenGoblin]

I really cannot see what I can usefully add to your accident analysis efforts. It crashed?

Yes, we can see that but what caused it to crash? You have no opinions, you don't care?

A pilot who has no opinions about why somebody else crashed. What a unique occurrence!

[Boac]

what caused it to crash

I have absolutely no idea. I also suspect we may never know. Does that help?

[TheGreenGoblin]

what caused it to crash

I have absolutely no idea. I also suspect we may never know. Does that help?

Not really, you may be right, although I am pretty sure a good hypothesis will be provided by the FAA.

[PHXPhlyer]

My only comment is what these accidents have in common.
A high level performer in other areas outside of aviation.

Another CEO Owner-Flown Crash
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6747

Plane crashes into office building in Milan
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6720

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

My only comment is what these accidents have in common.
A high level performer in other areas outside of aviation.

PP

You make a good point. He was also a doctor (a surgeon, a medical man). Reminscent of the old tales of Indian country (Chieftans, Warriors, Aztecs etc.) and the plethora of doctors who died flying them there...

Physicians actually make good pilots. But, in 1966 they received a bad rap due to a report published by the FAA’s Chief of Aviation Medicine, Dr. Stanley Mohler. Mohler had a point. Physicians were crashing planes at a higher rate as opposed to the general aviation population. His report would be a cautionary tale for all of us. It would be three decades before we even began to understand why smart people do stupid things. Aviation and medicine are highly regulated fields. But it was more of a Wild West show in the 1960s for both. The death rate for physician pilots in 1966 was four times higher than the general pilot population. The rate was so concerning that a follow-up study was conducted to examine the next six years. A downward trend of physician flight deaths occurred in subsequent years but the myth that physicians make bad pilots was already cemented into the culture. Especially when the studies cited risk-taking attitudes and judgment as underlying causes of physician pilot crashes. Mixing limited flight experience with high-performance aircraft didn’t help either. But there ended up being a broader lesson to the myth that had merit: we would later discover the Dunning-Kruger effect. In 1999, psychologist David Dunning and his graduate student Justin Kruger published their research that in their own words revealed, “incompetent people … cannot recognize just how incompetent they are.” Now, this isn’t to suggest physician pilots are incompetent. That’s not the point. The point is we all suffer from cognitive bias. We all believe we are smarter and more capable than we really are. Smart people are not immune to this phenomenon. In fact, the effect reveals the most competent individuals tend actually to underestimate their ability. But most people (75 percent) increasingly overestimate their ability. The key word here is increasingly. Incompetence doesn’t leave individuals with empty thoughts, disillusioned or even cautious. Dunning explained that instead, the incompetent are filled with inappropriate confidence that feels to them like knowledge. The result is people tend to overestimate their skill. They fail to recognize their own mistakes or lack of skill. They also are poor judges of genuine skill or the expertise of others. It is only the most competent people that tend to underestimate their relative ability — but they are in the vast minority and not much better. The effect manifests as a sense of false confidence. When confronted with alternate facts the tendency is to become defensive, not introspective. This isn’t a curiosity of human psychology. The effect has been repeated in other fields and seems to be the default mode of human thought. It is a problem for both aviation and medicine. It is important to note that the Dunning-Kruger effect is not synonymous with low IQ as it has often been misapplied as the more incompetent you are, the more knowledgeable you believe you are. The reality is everyone is affected, and those who think it only applies to those with lower IQ are merely demonstrating their own cognitive bias. Dunning noted that the irony of the effect was that “the knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task — and if one lacks such knowledge and intelligence, one remains ignorant that one is not good at that task.” What’s worse is we are terrible at assessing the competency of others. The April 2019 edition of Harvard Business Review noted in an article by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall entitled, “The Feedback Fallacy,” that for 40 years studies have repeatedly shown that people don’t have the objectivity to hold in their heads an abstract quality then accurately assess someone on that quality. Our own cognitive biases filter our understandings. It simply confirms the effect to an even broader degree of not only being unable to accurately assess our competence. We fail to accurately assess others as well. Originally published in 2003, Laurence Gonzales touched on many of these failures in his book, Deep Survival. An emergency medicine colleague recommended the book as an insight into not only why skilled pilots make simple mistakes but also why do brilliant physicians make simply obvious errors. Gonzales cites Plato who understood that emotions trump reason and that to succeed we must utilize the reins of reason on the horse of emotion. Reason and critical thinking skills seem to be the solution to this disturbing phenomenon we all face. Gonzales called the idea “about what you know that you don’t know you know and about what you don’t know that you’d better not think you know.” In other words, we all aren’t as smart as we believe. In 2001, John Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost attempted to short circuit this knowledge deficit by utilizing the same technique that ultimately saved pilots when planes became more complicated than a human could intellectually manage left to their own mental capabilities. He developed a simple checklist to ensure all the steps were taken to prevent infections when lines were being introduced into a patient. The simple checklist saved many lives just as a checklist saved pilots. Had Pronovost developed a drug instead of a checklist that did the same thing he would have won a Nobel Prize. The checklist was simply a tool. The real hero is the idea that we all aren’t as smart as we think we are. That is the first step in successfully flying a plane or practicing medicine. The next step is learning how to apply critical thought and reason to rein emotion — not the other way around. Phillip Stephens is chief physician assistant, department of emergency medicine, Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Lumberton, North Carolina. He is the author of Winning Fights: 12 Proven Principles for Winning on the Street, in the Ring, at Life, and can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Phillip M. Stephens. Source

Read more at: https://forum.facmedicine.com/threads/w ... nes.41710/

https://airfactsjournal.com/2015/12/doctors-bad-pilots/

https://www.faa.gov/data_research/resea ... M66-25.pdf

[TheGreenGoblin]

Anyway, whatever the final verdict on this sad accident, I hope that Boac puts some sugar in his cocoa tonight. He was in a particularly sour mood, possibly a bit like the milk in his cocoa methinks !

[PHXPhlyer]

My only comment is what these accidents have in common.
A high level performer in other areas outside of aviation.

PP
His report would be a cautionary tale for all of us. It would be three decades before we even began to understand why smart people do stupid things. Aviation and medicine are highly regulated fields. But it was more of a Wild West show in the 1960s for both. The death rate for physician pilots in 1966 was four times higher than the general pilot population. The rate was so concerning that a follow-up study was conducted to examine the next six years. A downward trend of physician flight deaths occurred in subsequent years but the myth that physicians make bad pilots was already cemented into the culture. Especially when the studies cited risk-taking attitudes and judgment as underlying causes of physician pilot crashes. Mixing limited flight experience with high-performance aircraft didn’t help either. But there ended up being a broader lesson to the myth that had merit: we would later discover the Dunning-Kruger effect. In 1999, psychologist David Dunning and his graduate student Justin Kruger published their research that in their own words revealed, “incompetent people … cannot recognize just how incompetent they are.” Now, this isn’t to suggest physician pilots are incompetent. That’s not the point. The point is we all suffer from cognitive bias. We all believe we are smarter and more capable than we really are. Smart people are not immune to this phenomenon. In fact, the effect reveals the most competent individuals tend actually to underestimate their ability. But most people (75 percent) increasingly overestimate their ability. The key word here is increasingly. Incompetence doesn’t leave individuals with empty thoughts, disillusioned or even cautious. Dunning explained that instead, the incompetent are filled with inappropriate confidence that feels to them like knowledge. The result is people tend to overestimate their skill. They fail to recognize their own mistakes or lack of skill. They also are poor judges of genuine skill or the expertise of others. It is only the most competent people that tend to underestimate their relative ability — but they are in the vast minority and not much better. The effect manifests as a sense of false confidence. When confronted with alternate facts the tendency is to become defensive, not introspective. This isn’t a curiosity of human psychology. The effect has been repeated in other fields and seems to be the default mode of human thought. It is a problem for both aviation and medicine. It is important to note that the Dunning-Kruger effect is not synonymous with low IQ as it has often been misapplied as the more incompetent you are, the more knowledgeable you believe you are. The reality is everyone is affected, and those who think it only applies to those with lower IQ are merely demonstrating their own cognitive bias. Dunning noted that the irony of the effect was that “the knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task — and if one lacks such knowledge and intelligence, one remains ignorant that one is not good at that task.” What’s worse is we are terrible at assessing the competency of others. The April 2019 edition of Harvard Business Review noted in an article by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall entitled, “The Feedback Fallacy,” that for 40 years studies have repeatedly shown that people don’t have the objectivity to hold in their heads an abstract quality then accurately assess someone on that quality. Our own cognitive biases filter our understandings. It simply confirms the effect to an even broader degree of not only being unable to accurately assess our competence. We fail to accurately assess others as well. Originally published in 2003, Laurence Gonzales touched on many of these failures in his book, Deep Survival. An emergency medicine colleague recommended the book as an insight into not only why skilled pilots make simple mistakes but also why do brilliant physicians make simply obvious errors. Gonzales cites Plato who understood that emotions trump reason and that to succeed we must utilize the reins of reason on the horse of emotion. Reason and critical thinking skills seem to be the solution to this disturbing phenomenon we all face. Gonzales called the idea “about what you know that you don’t know you know and about what you don’t know that you’d better not think you know.” In other words, we all aren’t as smart as we believe. In 2001, John Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost attempted to short circuit this knowledge deficit by utilizing the same technique that ultimately saved pilots when planes became more complicated than a human could intellectually manage left to their own mental capabilities. He developed a simple checklist to ensure all the steps were taken to prevent infections when lines were being introduced into a patient. The simple checklist saved many lives just as a checklist saved pilots. Had Pronovost developed a drug instead of a checklist that did the same thing he would have won a Nobel Prize. The checklist was simply a tool. The real hero is the idea that we all aren’t as smart as we think we are. That is the first step in successfully flying a plane or practicing medicine. The next step is learning how to apply critical thought and reason to rein emotion — not the other way around. Phillip Stephens is chief physician assistant, department of emergency medicine, Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Lumberton, North Carolina. He is the author of Winning Fights: 12 Proven Principles for Winning on the Street, in the Ring, at Life, and can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Phillip M. Stephens. Source

Read more at: https://forum.facmedicine.com/threads/w ... nes.41710/

https://airfactsjournal.com/2015/12/doctors-bad-pilots/

https://www.faa.gov/data_research/resea ... M66-25.pdf

[/quote]

You make a good point. He was also a doctor (a surgeon, a medical man). Reminscent of the old tales of Indian country (Chieftans, Warriors, Aztecs etc.) and the plethora of doctors who died flying them there...

Physicians actually make good pilots. But, in 1966 they received a bad rap due to a report published by the FAA’s Chief of Aviation Medicine, Dr. Stanley Mohler. Mohler had a point. Physicians were crashing planes at a higher rate as opposed to the general aviation population.

This became such a phenomenon that one particular aircraft was nicknamed The Fork-tailed Doctor Killer. The Beechcraft Bonanza.
Relatively low time doctor / pilots who had the means to afford a high performance aircraft.

An ER doc friend of mine would tell me of his feats of scud running IFR (I Follow Roads) going to and from his 48 hour shifts in the city.
Even as a student pilot I recognized his tendency to push the limits and disregard FARs and common sense.
I witnessed it first hand on a cross-country flight when, approaching a line of weather, I contacted Flight Service, and was asked by the briefer basically, "What the Hell are you doing up there?".
Dr. Bob had claimed to have gotten a WX briefing but it was obvious, even to me that either he hadn't gotten one or totally disregarded it. I was pissed.
We were returning from The Reno Air Races and he said that we needed to leave right away to beat the weather.
Not only did did we miss the Gold and Silver Unlimited final races, we had to stop halfway to overnight and wait for the storm to pass. We landed at a strip that serviced a small "state line" casino and a gas station.
We could have stayed in Reno, ate well at the buffet, seen another show, stayed in a decent hotel, and most of all, watched the Unlimited finals. And still gotten home at about the same time.
Fast forward about three years. I was a newly minted CFI and I was ready to tell him what an idiot he was, flying wise.
Before I could do that, I learned the he and his girlfriend were missing and presumed dead in his C180. They had spun in either looking at wildlife low level or had flown into a box canyon and stall/spun trying to get out.
Either way, it snowed before they were reported missing , and what was left of them wasn't found until the spring thaw.

He wasted a good airplane and a very nice lady. More than that, he stole my thunder.
I was so ready to tell him off on the basis of my new found standing, thanks to the FAA.

PP