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July 12, 2022

NTSB Prelim: Cessna 336

Observed The Airplane Descending In A Wings Level, Approximate 45° Or Steeper, Nose Down Attitude

On June 18, 2022, about 1454 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 336, N3835U, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Porterville, California. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Recorded Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) data, depicted in figure 1, showed the airplane in a left climbing turn shortly after takeoff from runway 30 at Porterville Municipal Airport (PTV). The airplane climbed to about 825 ft msl on a southeasterly heading. About 1 minute 7 seconds later, the airplane initiated a right turn to a southerly heading.

Cape Town Incident Evinces Unrest

In an incident that underscores the duality of human aspiration and endeavor, a student pilot and his instructor—after suffering engine failure and safely landing their light, single-engine airplane in a field near Cape Town, South Africa—were set upon by a crowd that robbed the pair and looted their aircraft. Cape Town city spokesperson Eckhardt Winks stated that the light aircraft—the wreckage of which resembles a Piper Cherokee variant—belongs to a local flight-school, and went down after experiencing engine trouble during a 28 June instructional flight.