Sunday, July 17, 2022

Socata TB-21 Trinidad, N718TB: Accident occurred July 16, 2022 in San Marcos, San Diego County, California

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.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entity:
Roger Messick; Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; San Diego, California 


Location: San Marcos, California
Accident Number: WPR22LA259
Date and Time: July 16, 2022, 18:17 Local 
Registration: N718TB
Aircraft: Socata TB21
Injuries: 2 Minor, 2 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

On July 16, 2022, at 1817 Pacific daylight time, a Socata TB-21 airplane, N718TB, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near San Marcos, California. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Two people on the ground received minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to the pilot, he had picked up the airplane following an annual inspection and refueled the airplane to about 56 gallons of fuel onboard. He then conducted a pattern only flight limited to one approach and landing due to operational constraints imposed by the local tower. The pilot landed, shutdown, and picked up a passenger for a cross-country flight to Fullerton Municipal Airport (FUL), California, to reposition the airplane. The flight departed and about 30 minutes after takeoff and while cruising at 6,500 mean sea level (msl) the engine lost partial power. The pilot attempted to divert to nearby airport but was forced to land on a road when the flight could not reach the runway. The airplane struck a vehicle on the road, which separated the left wing from the fuselage. Two occupants of the vehicle received minor injuries.

The airplane was retained for further examination.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Socata 
Registration: N718TB
Model/Series: TB21
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built:
Operator: On file
Operating Certificate(s) Held: None
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: VMC
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: 5:53
Observation Time:
Distance from Accident Site: 
Temperature/Dew Point: 20°C /17.2°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Few 
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 5 knots / , 200°
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 800 ft AGL
Visibility: 10 miles
Altimeter Setting: 29.88 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed:
Departure Point: 
Destination:

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 None
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 1 None 
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: 2 Minor 
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 2 Minor, 2 None
Latitude, Longitude: 33.109852,-117.22536 (est)

Aircraft made an emergency landing on a road and struck a vehicle.

Date: 17-JUL-22
Time: 01:05:00Z
Regis#: N718TB
Aircraft Make: SOCATA
Aircraft Model: TB20
Event Type:
Highest Injury: MINOR
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: SUBSTANTIAL
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: LANDING (LDG)
Operation: 91
City: CARLSBAD
State: CALIFORNIA





 



A driver's dashboard camera caught the moment a small plane made a daring emergency landing on South Rancho Santa Fe Road in San Marcos Saturday evening.

A driver shared dashboard camera footage showing the plane making a rapid descent toward the intersection of Melrose Drive. The plane flew over a group of northbound cars waiting at a red light and touched down in the intersection ahead of them. The second camera angle shows the plane's wing clip a metal sign in the median.

The plane continued driving north up Rancho Santa Fe Road until it crashed into an SUV at the intersection of Boulderidge Drive. Its pilot-side wing smashed into the back end of the SUV, and the wing came off of the fuselage.

The San Marcos Fire Department reported the emergency landing at around 6:30 p.m. Two passengers were injured, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

This single-engine plane made an emergency landing at Rancho Santa Fe Road and Melrose Drive in San Marcos and crashed into an SUV at the following intersection, losing a wing in the process.

South Rancho Santa Fe Road was closed near Melrose and Boulderidge indefinitely, SMFD said. Drivers were asked to avoid the area. as of 10 p.m., hazmat crews were still on the scene cleaning up fuel, the SDSO said.




SAN MARCOS, California – A small plane made an emergency landing in the middle of a busy San Marcos intersection and hit a car Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The small Socata aircraft landed at the intersection of Santa Fe Road and Melrose Drive in San Marcos around 6:15 p.m., according to Lt. Ryan Wisniewski with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

The four-seater plane had two people on board when it took off from Montgomery Airfield and was headed to Fullerton, authorities said. The pilot lost power and contacted Palomar Airport to try to make an emergency landing there, but didn’t make it to the runway.

“The pilot was not able to maintain altitude long enough to get to Palomar so he did an amazing job frankly on being able to land here on Rancho Santa Fe,” San Marcos Fire Department Battalion Chief David Pender said.

The two passengers inside the plane and the passengers inside the vehicle were able to be safely evacuated and only minor injuries were caused as a result of this incident.

The plane just nearly missed nearby homes and buildings.

“Police were speeding by us. There’s so many ways it could have ended way worse. this is a very busy road, the fact that only one car was hit is amazing,” said Dan Selstad, an onlooker who drove near the crash right after it happened. “Swimming pool with all the kids is about 50 yards away, right there. Just nuts — unbelievable. I was blown away that we could see the pilot walking around.”

The FAA, NTSB, and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will conduct investigations into the crash. Authorities said they do not suspect any drugs or alcohol were involved.

23 comments:

  1. Low lying cloud layer covering the whole area at the time of the incident

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  2. hearing the atc audio he requested special vfr through palomar KCRQ sounded like for landing. But clouds weren't the problem as the audio reveals he said he could no longer make full power (fuel? or mechanical?). I do not see any fuel spillage in the accident photos even though a wing is torn off. I would be interested to know how much fuel was in the tanks at investigation and which fuel tank was selected.

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    Replies
    1. added another comment after reviewing all audio.

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    2. Some drying agent to sop up was applied in a couple of spots, no big fuel spill evident in those daytime pix, but news article said hazmat crews on the scene were still on scene cleaning up fuel "as of 10 PM". Maybe they had spillage during fuel removal for recovery, since fuel removal is standard safety practice before loading up and hauling wreckage.

      Clean wing-off didn't breach tanks - some spillage may have run out the severed fuel line later when the on-edge wing was moved.

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  3. Made a greaser landing as seen on dashcams. Reported power loss.

    Video of the landing:
    https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/dashcam-catches-plane-making-emergency-landing-on-san-marcos-road

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  4. after reviewing all audio from ATC, pilot requested flight following to Fullerton, at about 6K he told socal he was having engine problems, diverted to Palomar KCRQ (said he had 4hrs fuel so no fuel problems unless fuel system problem) and was VFR over the top so had to transition through clouds possibly to go special VFR, sounded calm and good landing with no serious injuries. Good ending to the situation all things considered!

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  5. Saw this aircraft at Montgomery when taxiing to 28R on Friday. It was parked at the maintenance shop located near the 28R run up area. As a former TB21 owner it caught my eye [they are relatively rare aircraft, alas a bit rarer now] and I wrote down the N-number to look up later [I was I the right seat and not PIC otherwise would not have done so]. Hardly a stretch to assume some sort of MIF…

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  6. This airplane is now parked at Palomar in the NW corner. I had a look at it yesterday. Interesting facts: Not a touch of oil anywhere on or around the cowling. I looked at the dipstick and it's full of what appeared to be fresh oil. Both wings are punctured and detached partially or fully but there's no indication whatsoever of fuel, anywhere. I didn't see any in the photos above either. Interestingly 6K ft, you can glide quite a distance. I believe there was a Freeway (I15) and at least 2-3 golf courses in his glide range. Kinda curious about the descent path and choices therein. But more keen to understand why there's no fuel or even a smattering of oil anywhere in or around the cowl -- which would be common in an engine fail.

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    1. Fuel removal before recovery load up and transport is safety SOP. Lots of ways to lose engine power without throwing a rod thru the case. Did someone who was there say it was okay to pull the dipstick? Kinda bold if not!

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  7. Used to teach on those TB21's. You can still maintain altitude w 2 on board at 50% power. You dont need full power to stay in the air, Duhhh!! And why a road instead of so many other places to land on grass???
    Sounds very suspicious for me a former CFI on them.

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    1. I would not try for a golf course at that speed. I think he did the right thing going for the empty side of the road.

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    2. He may have briefly considered Lake San Marcos Exec golf course based on the ADS-B track, but it's hilly nearby, has trees and a bi-secting road bermed up from the playing surface to hit if you overrun.
      Photo looking from bi-sect road at available landing option:
      https://goo.gl/maps/ZE8oPU9beRppdb8b7

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    3. He obviously didn’t have much time to choose a place to land with the ceiling at 900. Sounds like he punched through the ceiling and had to instantly figure out where to land. He did an excellent job. I don’t know the fuel system on that aircraft, but he did such a good job aviating and communicating that I bet he checked to make sure an empty tank wasn’t selected

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    4. Who said he had 50% of power or more? Where did you get that information? And the terrain in this area isn’t flat, he chose the best option of a long, hard, flat surface to land on with no fatalities and minimal injuries.

      Well done! It’s quite annoying how folks jumpy to criticize and easily miss what should be celebrated as a positive outcome.

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    5. Seriously, a lot of armchair investigators on here with plenty of undue assumptions and frankly some quite reckless speculation. I fly in the area and the terrain in this part of the country is no joke... not as simple as just "hey look there aren't any houses over there, let's put her down!"

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  8. Looks like to me that as he approached the road, he had zero flaps in, but in the post crash pics it shows full flap deflection. Also of interesting note is no fuel spillage visible from the pics. Maybe got lucky with no fuel spillage.

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  9. Looks like to me that as he approached the road, he had zero flaps in, but in the post crash pics it shows full flap deflection. Also of interesting note is no fuel spillage visible from the pics. Maybe got lucky with no fuel spillage.

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  10. No fuel spillage because he ran out of fuel perhaps?

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    Replies
    1. Nope. The pilot had picked up the airplane following an annual inspection and refueled the airplane to about 56 gallons of fuel onboard.

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