...And Avoid

Seriously? That’s all we get? Our only takeaway is to watch for other traffic? I want more.

Frank Bowlin

Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 08:27 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A mid-air collision occurred at Watsonville Airport (KWVI) on August 18, 2022, between a Cessna 340 and a Cessna 152, resulting in three fatalities.
The NTSB concluded the cause was the Cessna 340 pilot's "failure to see and avoid," a finding the author criticizes as inadequate for merely stating the obvious outcome.
The author suggests the NTSB report should have included contributing factors like the Cessna 340's excessive speed on final (180 knots), the 340 pilot not addressing the 152, or the 152 continuing its pattern despite the known rapid approach of the 340.

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Watsonville, California, has a nice airport just inland from California’s Monterey Bay. It’s a busy, nontowered (uncontrolled?) airport with extensive flight training, transient, and corporate traffic. Years ago I based my Cessna 340 there.

Watsonville (KWVI) has two runways. The main runway is 2/20 as the wind is almost always off Monterey Bay, favoring Runway 20. The crosswind runway, 9/27, sees less use.