Background
A Cessna 310 and a Cessna 152 collided in-flight at approximately 2,600 feet mean sea level, roughly 2,000 feet above ground level, about 2 miles south of the Corona airport. The Cessna 310 was descending toward a nearby area airport and carried two pilots. The Cessna 152 was operated by a certified flight instructor, the sole occupant, seated in the right seat. The 152 was orbiting south of the airport, awaiting the reopening of the runway after construction.
Circumstances
Radar data indicated that during the 1 minute and 18 seconds preceding the collision, the Cessna 310 descended from 4,000 feet to the collision altitude on a southeast-bound ground track at a rate of approximately 1,200 feet per minute. Nine seconds before impact, the Cessna 152, which had been on a westbound track, initiated a right turn toward a northwest-bound ground track. Over the same 1 minute and 18 second period, horizontal separation between the two aircraft decreased from 6.01 nautical miles to zero, while vertical separation diminished by 1,400 feet.
Collision Reconstruction
Reconstruction of the two airplanes revealed that at the point of collision, the Cessna 310's lateral axis was about 80 degrees relative to the Cessna 152's vertical axis. The 310's outer right wing and tip tank contacted the 152's left main gear strut, lift strut, and inboard left wing.
Relative Geometry
In the minute before the collision, the relative horizontal bearing from the Cessna 310's ground track to the Cessna 152 was between 8 and 10 degrees left of the track. During the same period, the relative horizontal bearing from the Cessna 152's ground track to the Cessna 310 varied between 25 degrees and 40 degrees right of the 152's ground track as the 152 maneuvered prior to the right turn. Trigonometric calculation of altitude difference between the targets yielded a relative vertical angle of 2 degrees and 10 minutes between the target positions.