Cessna 172 And Sabre 60 Struck Near Brown Field Municipal Airport

The NTSB has released its preliminary report from a mid-air collision between a Sabreliner chartered by the U.S Navy and a Cessna 172 on a cross-country flight in California. Five people were fatally injured in the accident.

According to the report, on August 16, 2015, about 1100 Pacific daylight time, two airplanes, a Cessna 172, N1285U, and an experimental Sabreliner, (Sabre 60), N442RM, collided midair approximately 1 mile northeast of Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), San Diego, California. The two pilots and two mission specialists aboard the Sabreliner were fatally injured. The pilot of the Cessna, the sole occupant of the airplane, was fatally injured. The Sabreliner was being operated as a public use flight by the U.S. Department of Defense in support of the U.S. Navy. The Sabreliner was registered to BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Inc. The Cessna was registered to Plus One Flyers, Inc., of San Diego, California, and operated by the pilot as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Both airplanes were destroyed.

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at SDM. Both airplanes departed SDM earlier that day and a mission flight plan was on file for the Sabreliner; no flight plan was filed for the Cessna 172. A controller in the SDM air traffic control tower (ATCT) was in contact with both accident airplanes prior to the collision.

Witnesses observed the accident airplanes on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at SDM. The witnesses turned momentarily, but then observed an explosion followed by sections of the airplanes falling to the ground. Another witness located about 2 miles east-northeast of SDM observed both airplanes at the same altitude, flying towards each other. The smaller airplane was flying from the airport, and the larger airplane was flying to the airport and descending. He stated that both airplanes did not appear to have made any avoidance actions prior to the collision. After the collision, the smaller airplane broke apart; the larger airplane banked left, impacted the ground and exploded.

The accident site consisted of two debris fields. The Cessna's debris field was located about 400 feet northeast of the Sabreliner's debris field. The Cessna's debris field was about 1,200 feet in length on a magnetic heading of 055 degrees, and contained parts from the Sabreliner. The Cessna was highly fragmented throughout the debris field. The Sabreliner's right wing was found in the Cessna's debris field. The Sabreliner's debris field was contained within a radius of about 100 feet, and no Cessna parts were located within that radius. The Sabreliner came to rest at a magnetic heading of 060 degrees.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov