NTSB Report On Watsonville Mid-Air Plane Crash Shows Pilots' Futile Attempts To Avoid Collision

CBS San Francisco

September 16, 2022

A preliminary report on last month's fatal crash involving two small planes in Watsonville released Thursday indicates the pilots attempted various times to announce their positions and approaches to the airport before ultimately colliding in mid-air.

The report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) relied on recorded position data broadcast by the planes, recorded radio transmissions between the pilots, and information from witnesses to the crash, including one who was flying above the planes at the time of the collision.

• Read the NTSB report

NTSB investigators reported that one plane, a Cessna 152, was practicing "touch-and-go landings" at the Watsonville Municipal Airport when a larger and more powerful twin-engine Cessna 340 approached the airport. The airport does not have a control tower.

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