Pilot And Passenger Hospitalized With Serious Injuries

The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report of the investigation into the January 24 crash of a Cessna 172S near the Oceanside, CA Municipal Airport (ONB).

Pilot Amandeep Singh, 24, and passenger Harshdeep Multani, 18, were enroute on an IFR flight from El Cajon to Torrence, CA when Singh noticed the Cessna's fuel gages were going down quickly. Fearing a fuel leak, Singh opted to divert to Oceanside as a precautionary measure.

Due to approaches that were too high and too fast, Singh overshot the airport twice. The engine lost power on the second go-around attempt, the plane crashing into a residential area a half-mile away from the airport. Singh and Multani were both hospitalized for injuries sustained in the impact; no one on the ground was hurt.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, California Flight Academy, the plane's owner and operator, said Singh earned his commercial pilot's license at the school a year ago before returning to his native India with aspirations of becoming an airline pilot.

Singh came back to the school recently in order to complete 15 additional hours of training. Multani is also a student at the flight school, and is working on his private pilot's license.

FMI: Read The NTSB Prelim