Six killed in small plane crash off the San Diego coast

ktla ^ | 06/09/2025 | Josh Funk

[CodeToad]

Just seems like maybe the pilot wasn’t a pilot.

[sjmjax]

Strange!
Overloaded? Weight & balance issue? Mechanical failure?

[Red Badger]

Aviation Ping!..................

[Glennb51]

Based on KTLA, he was in the clouds intermittently. Possible spatial disorientation.

[norwaypinesavage]

He probably was a pilot rated for visual flying who was caught in instrument conditions.

[montag813]

If it’s an original 414, it has a 6 person capacity. If luggage was heavy it should have caused a problem

[CodeToad]

A surfer saw him. Seems visibility wasn’t an issue.

[thinden]

vertigo’s a b!+ch

[chopperk]

Maybe used parts?

[chopperk]

Cessna 400 series aircraft are very easy to fly, just don’t get low and slow.

[z3n]

But why did he stay in a dive when he came back out of the clouds?

Also, even if you don’t have training or certification in IFR, you still know enough to be able to watch the attitude orientation gauge.

I suspect a flight surface failure, like an elevator or stabilizer control

[Seaplaner]

Some things the NTSB might focus on are weight and balance.

If the aircraft was too heavy, (fuel, pax, luggage) getting altitude is difficult and it's easy to stall and lose stability.

And, if the weight was aft loaded (meaning the aircraft was tail heavy) the problems are magnified. The elevator can lose authority.

Whatever, any crash with injuries and loss of life is a tragety.

[doorgunner69]

Marine layer conditions, essentially very low clouds.

Like heavy fog that has risen a bit.

[Red Badger]

https://people.com/aaliyah-death-what-to-know-8666628#:~:text=Aaliyah%20died%20in%20a%20plane,402B%20crashed%20shortly%20after%20takeoff.

[thinden]

pilot error

[Seaplaner]

The pathologist also testified that an autopsy of the pilot, Luis Antonio Morales, revealed he had “cocaine in his urine and traces of alcohol in his stomach.” The pilot was also not certified to fly the Cessna 402B and had been hired by the charter company a few days before the crash, per The New York Times. Morales had also been sentenced to probation for cocaine possession two weeks prior.

Oh, my. I got my info from an older article.

Thanks for the correction RB!

[doorgunner69]

“why did he stay in a dive when he came back out of the clouds?”

Bottom the clouds is only a few hundred feet above the ocean.
May have been inverted if really disoriented.

[Red Badger]

There were also other issues.

Aliya pulled the old “Do you know who I am?” stunt.

According to witnesses on the ground:

He supposedly told her that the weight was too much.

700 pounds overweight!.

She threatened to call his employer and have him fired if he didn’t take off with her entourage and all their luggage and equipment, immediately!..............

[dragnet2]

The plane was returning to Phoenix one day after flying out from Arizona

Never a good day to go to California...