Midair collision blamed on pilot error

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the probable cause of the accident was pilot David Dunbar Sr.'s failure to see and avoid another small aircraft that had departed the Yerington airport moments before.

An NTSB report says Dunbar's Cessna 185 struck the left main gear of a Cessna 150 with its propeller and left wing. The collision one mile from the airport caused both planes to veer out of control and crash.

Both planes came down in residential areas, but no one on the ground was injured. All three people aboard the planes were killed.

Ric Sorensen, 56, of Yerington, was aboard his Cessna 150 with 62-year-old student Stephen Natanson of Wellington. It remains unclear who was in control of the plane at the time of the crash.

Dunbar, 71, of Washoe Valley, was a commercial pilot for 37 years and a retired United Airlines captain. Sorensen was a flight instructor who operated the Yerington airport.

Investigators said Sorensen's Cessna 150 was "already established in the traffic pattern" at the time of the collison.

The federal board also said the failure of both pilots to announce their intentions on the common traffic advisory frequency was a factor in the crash. The Yerington airport does not have a control tower.

Dunbar's plane landed in a garage and set a house on fire. Sorensen's plane came down on a driveway.