Cessna 340A accident near Selma, California, November 6, 2000
On November 6, 2000 at about 12:00 pm local time, a Cessna 340A, registered N12273, was destroyed in an accident near Selma, California (Selma airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was killed and 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's improper decision to attempt a visual approach and landing in instrument meteorological conditions and his failure to follow instrument flight rules procedures.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 6, 2000 · about 12:00 pm local time
- Place
- Selma, California · Selma · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed and 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 340A · all 340As on the register
- Registration
- N12273 · no longer on the register · serial 340A1536
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airline transport rated pilot was returning an organ transplant nurse passenger to an uncontrolled, no facilities airport, with ground fog present about 0400 in the morning. The pilot had obtained two abbreviated preflight weather briefings while waiting for his passenger, and prior to departing at 0235. According to witnesses he attempted to land twice on runway 28, then he made an approach and attempted a landing on runway 10. Witnesses reported that the airport was engulfed in ground fog at the time of the approaches. They said that you could see straight up but not horizontally. The airplane collided with grape vineyard poles and canal/wash berms, about 250 feet short of the runway 10 displaced threshold. Approach charts for two airports with instrument approaches within 20 miles were found lying on the instrument panel glare shield. The passenger's car was parked at the uncontrolled airport.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 19,000 hours in all; 2,000 in this make and model; 134 in the last 90 days; 45 in the last 30 days; 18,900 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,915 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, October 16, 2000; 22 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,990 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520-NB (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Yecny Enterprises, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: PRB Paso Robles CA at 11:30 am
- Destination: 0Q4 CA
- Runway 10, 2,490 ft by 50 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 050° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 2.5 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 118°F (48°C), dew point 115°F (46°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:56 am from FAT, 15 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.