NTSB Identification: WPR12FA349
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, August 10, 2012 in Santa Monica, CA
Aircraft: CESSNA P210N, registration: N41KA
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On August 10, 2012, about 1811 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna P210N, N41KA, impacted trees and terrain about 3 miles northeast of the Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California. The private pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage in the post impact fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed SMO about 1745, and no flight plan had been filed.
According to a Los Angeles City firefighter/paramedic, he was about a block away clearing a call when he heard tree branches snapping. He turned around and saw the accident airplane in a nose down attitude. The airplane struck a 30-foot-tall palm tree, rotated 90 degrees, and dropped straight down. The airplane was then involved in a post-crash fire. The witness stated that he did not recall hearing the sound of the airplane’s engine.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (NTSB IIC) and an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded to the accident site. The accident path was along a heading of 140 degrees magnetic (S. Glendon Avenue). Several trees were impacted along the path by the airplane before it impacted a palm tree. The investigation team noted a witness mark on the top 1/3 of the palm tree. The entire airplane came to rest at the accident site.
The airplane was recovered and taken to a secure facility for further examination.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 41KA Make/Model: C210 Description: 210, T210, (Turbo)Centurion
Date: 08/11/2012 Time: 0111
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: SANTA MONICA State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED SHORT OF THE AIRPORT, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY
INJURED, 3 MILES FROM SANTA MONICA, CA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: LOS ANGELES, CA (WP23) Entry date: 08/13/2012
http://registry.faa.gov/N41KA
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/681720L.html
http://www.nbclosangeles.com
The pilot who died when his small plane crashed into a
West Los Angeles neighborhood Friday evening flew volunteer medical
missions using his Santa Monica Airport-based aircraft, according to a
friend.
He was identified by his neighbor as
attorney Sean McMillan of Westchester. He had been flying charitable
flights for those medically in need for about 20 years through a service
called Angel Flight, the neighbor said.
He was killed on impact, and his
Cessna 210 broke into pieces that lay charred on the ground in an
intersection, aerial video showed.
A home saw an exterior wall damaged, and a palm tree
went up in flames that were quickly doused by firefighters, video from
the scene showed. No one on the ground was injured.
"I know for a fact Sean would've
aimed his airplane at the last moment for an empty street," said
McMillan's neighbor Charlie Fredricy.
He said that McMillan volunteered with Angel Flight, and the organization confirmed it had a pilot named. Online records showed McMillan was 70.
The State Bar of California lists an M.S. McMillan as
a lawyer at the Century City-based firm of Greenberg Traurig. The
firm's website lists a Sean McMillan as a shareholder who is a member of Angel Flight.
The bar listing for McMillan says he had an undergraduate degree from USC and a law degree from Harvard University.
On Friday, a spokesman with the
Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that the plane had declared
an emergency after departing Santa Monica Airport, about 3 miles
southwest of the crash site.
Neighbors near the crash site – in the 2100 block of Glendon Avenue (map) – said planes going to and from the airport frequently fly overhead.
The plane "flew around for an
unknown period of time, and was coming back to land when the accident
occurred," said the FAA's Ian Gregor on Friday.
Multiple witnesses said they saw the plane flying low before it crashed.
FAA records for the aircraft said it was a fixed-wing, single-engine Cessa 210 that was manufactured in 1978.
The pilot who died after his plane crashed onto a sidestreet in West Los Angeles yesterday has been identified by a neighbor who knew him as a local attorney, who volunteered to fly planes for charity.
A friend and neighbor told NBC Los Angeles
that the pilot who perished in yesterday's fiery plane crash was Sean
McMillan of Westchester. He was an attorney at at the Century City-based
law firm Greenberg Traurig. Charlie Fredricy said that McMillan was in his 70's and for two decades he had volunteered with a group called Angel Flight.
Fredricy described McMillan as a generous person who would have gone
out of his way to make sure no one else was hurt as his plane went down:
"I know for a fact Sean would've aimed his airplane at the last moment
for an empty street."
Locals who saw the plane before it crashed said that it had been
flying extremely low before it crashed into the intersection of Glendon
Avenue and Mississippi. The FAA told reporters that the pilot declared
an "emergency" for an unknown reason. He was trying to turn his
fixed-wing, single-engine Cessa 210 around to land back at the Santa
Monica, which was just three miles away.
Related:
Plane Crashes Into West Los Angeles Neighborhood, Killing 1
A Cessna 210 crashed Friday on Aug. 10, 2012 in West Los Angeles. One person on board has been reported killed. (CBS Los Angeles)
A crash site of a single-engine Cessna 210 is seen in the 2100 block of South Glendon Avenue in the West LA portion of Los Angeles, California, August 10, 2012. The plane crashed about three miles northeast from the airport shortly after taking off from Santa Monica Airport, killing one person aboard but causing no injuries to anyone on the ground. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
Credit: REUTERS
Published date: 08/11/2012
Courtesy ABC News
Courtesy NBCLA
A small plane crashed into a tree in a Westwood neighborhood on Friday, August 10, 2012.
Authorities have said a small fixed-wing
aircraft crashed in a residential neighborhood on the westside of Los
Angeles on Friday evening, and one person had died.
The victim's age and gender was not immediately known, fire officials said. No other victims have been discovered.
The pilot of the single-engine Cessna
210 declared an emergency around 6:10 p.m., shortly after departing
Santa Monica airport, which is about three miles northeast from the site
of the crash, according to Ian Gregor, with the Federal Aviation
Administration.
It was not immediately know why the
pilot signaled an emergency. The plane is registered to a Santa Monica
resident, Gregor said.
Aerial video showed smoke rising from
the scene, a residential neighborhood in West Los Angeles. A blackened,
broken-apart plane appeared in the roadway.
The plane appeared to crash near homes but no structures were involved in the crash, officials said.
Los Angeles firefighters were on the scene spraying down the wreckage. It appeared to be partly in an intersection.
An alert sent out by the Los Angeles Fire Department at 6:18 p.m. gave the address as 2111 Glendon Avenue (map).
A man who said he lived less than a block from the scene spoke on air during the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. via phone.
"I saw a small plane go right
overhead. It literally clipped the power lines right behind myself. Instantly, I heard it hit the ground and there was smoke. We ran over
there … the plane was already engulfed in flames, the tree was on fire,"
said the neighbor, who gave his name as Matt.
He added that there was "high air traffic" in the area going into Santa Monica Airport.
Hamilton County rescue personnel search the Harrison Bay area of Chickamauga Lake late Friday evening after they received reports of a plane crash. Witnesses reported the possible crash about 5 p.m., just before a strong thunderstorm passed over the area. Officials called off the search about 9 p.m. Friday without having found anything. There was no word whether a search would resume today. 
