Cessna 402 Utiliner
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The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-
piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...
aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplanes, Second Edition'', page 108. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. All seats are easily removable so that the aircraft can be used in an all-cargo configuration. Neither the Cessna 401 nor the 402 were pressurized, nor were they particularly fast for the installed power. Instead, Cessna intended them to be inexpensive to purchase and operate.


Design

The Cessna 401 and 402 were developed to be non-pressurized twin engine piston aircraft. Their goal was to be a workhorse, useful to cargo and small commuter airlines among other users. The Cessna 401 and 402 were developments of the
Cessna 411 The Cessna Model 411 is an American twin-engined, propeller-driven, non-pressurized light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was that company's largest business aircraft to enter production when it first flew in 1962. Design and developmen ...
. One goal for the Cessna 401/402 was to improve upon the very bad single engine handling of the Cessna 411.Aviation Consumer's Used Aircraft Guide vol 2 Another goal was to avoid using the somewhat expensive and maintenance prone geared engines of the Cessna 411. Cessna 401s and 402s are powered by
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
engines with three-bladed, constant speed, fully feathering propellers. On later models cruise power was limited to 75% to reduce cabin noise. Some aircraft have a propeller synchrophaser to reduce cabin noise and vibration.


Development

The FAA granted certification to the Cessna 401 in October 1968 and the 402 in January 1969. The original Cessna 402 was introduced in 1967. A version without the large cargo door called the Cessna 401 was produced at the same time. In 1969, the 402's nose was stretched for added baggage space. This model was renamed the 402A. The 401 kept the original nose. In 1970, various minor changes were made. Also, optional larger fuel tanks, of , became available. This model was called the 402B. By 1971, sales of the 401 had slowed to only 21 planes, so the model was discontinued. Between 1971 and 1977, many changes were made to the airframe, including an optional engine fire extinguisher (1971), simpler exhaust system (1972), enlarged passenger windows (1973), equipment for flight into known icing conditions (1975), and an optional flushing toilet (1977). In 1976, the very similar
Cessna 421 The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411. Development The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 1967 ...
was produced with a new wing, no tip tanks, and a simpler fuel system. The
Cessna 414 The Cessna 414 is an American light, pressurized, twin-engine transport aircraft built by Cessna. It first flew in 1968 and an improved variant was introduced from 1978 as the 414A Chancellor. Design and development The pressurized 414 was dev ...
was given a clean wing in 1978. In 1979, the 402s received a new wing, with a greater span. The landing gear was replaced, using the simpler system from the
Cessna 414 The Cessna 414 is an American light, pressurized, twin-engine transport aircraft built by Cessna. It first flew in 1968 and an improved variant was introduced from 1978 as the 414A Chancellor. Design and development The pressurized 414 was dev ...
. The landing gear track was also increased by . The engines' output was boosted to each and max gross weight increased to , creating a much more useful airplane. Fuel capacity was increased to . Even with the weight increase, single-engine performance improved and the stall speed decreased by a couple of knots. After this change, the plane was named the Cessna 402C. Production stopped after the 1985 model year.


Modifications

In 1969,
American Jet Industries Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,000 aircraft sinc ...
began work on a turboprop-powered conversion of the Cessna 402, named the Turbo Star 402, using Allison 250-B17 engines. The prototype flew on 10 June 1970. Further modifications providing increased fuel capacity, higher gross weight, and lower minimum control speed were carried out in 1974 and the modification was re-certified.
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of
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purchased rights to the design in 1977. The Cessna 402C may be outfitted with
vortex generators A vortex generator (VG) is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small vane usually attached to a lifting surface (or airfoil, such as an aircraft wing) or a rotor blade of a wind turbine.Hendrik Venter Hendrik may refer to: People * Hendrik (given name) * Hans Hendrik (1832–1889), Greenlandic Arctic traveller and interpreter * Tony Hendrik (born 1945), German music producer and composer Others * Hendrik Island, an island in Greenland * Hendrik ...
of DMI engineering created the Falcon 402: a converted Cessna 402 fitted with a single Walter M601D turboprop in the nose and replacing the two piston engines in the wings with new fuel tanks. The nose was lengthened in order to correct the
centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For a ...
. It has an increased payload and top speed and can use shorter runways.


Variants

This family of aircraft was built in several versions: ; :Six to eight seat interior, intended for corporate transport. Produced 1966–1972. The replacement for the 401 in the corporate transport role was the 402 Businessliner variant.
Certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
20 September 1966. ;401A :A 401 with minor changes. Certified 29 October 1968. ; :A 401A with minor changes, later replaced by the 402B. Certified 12 November 1969. ;402 :A 401 with either a utility (for freight) or nine-seat commuter use. Certified 20 September 1966. Originally designated Model 360. ;402A :A 402 with a baggage compartment in lengthened nose and an optional crew entry door. Certified 3 January 1969. ;402B Utiliner/Businessliner :402A with minor changes, from 1972 had increased cabin volume and five windows each side. Certified 12 November 1969. :*Utiliner version has a ten-seat interior intended for commuter airline operations. :*Businessliner version has a six to eight-seat interior with executive seating intended for corporate transport. ; :402B with Continental TSIO-520-VB 325 hp engines, increased takeoff weight, longer wingspan without main tip tanks and hydraulic instead of electric landing gear. Certified 25 September 1978.


Operators


Civilian

The Cessna 402 has proven to be very dependable over the years, which, along with its range and passenger capacity, has made it a popular choice for many small regional airlines worldwide. The aircraft are generally flown on short, thin routes to hubs where passengers can connect to higher density routes. The largest operator of the type is
Cape Air Hyannis Air Service Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Cape Cod Gateway Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, the Caribbean and Eastern Montana. ...
, which as of March 2024 has a fleet of 64 Cessna 402s operating in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...
and the
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.


Military


Accidents and incidents

American R&B singer
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...
died Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sho ...
along with eight others, including the pilot, two hairstylists, a makeup artist, a bodyguard, and three record label professionals, when a Cessna 402B
registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
N8097W operated by
Blackhawk International Airways Blackhawk International Airways was an aircraft charter rental and leasing company based out of Florida, United States. Blackhawk was owned and founded by Gilbert Chacón and his son Erik. The small charter and tour business, which eventually move ...
, crashed shortly after takeoff on August 25, 2001, around 6:50p.m. local time, in
Marsh Harbour Marsh Harbour is a town in Abaco Islands, Bahamas, with a population of 6,283 as of 2012. The settlement lies on a peninsula just off the Great Abaco Highway, which runs south through Great Abaco to Cherokee Point and Little Harbour. North of to ...
,
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,
The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...
. The main cause of the crash was determined to be an improperly loaded aircraft, which was approximately over its
maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft, also known as the maximum structural takeoff weight or maximum structural takeoff mass, is the maximum weight at which the p ...
, with a
center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For ...
well aft of the envelope. Investigators discovered that the
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
, Luis Morales III, was unlicensed at the time of the crash and had traces of
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and
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in his system. Blackhawk surrendered its operating certificate to the FAA. Aaliyah's family later filed a
wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...
lawsuit against Blackhawk, which was settled out of court. On January 8, 2025, a Cessna 402C operated by Pacifica Aviation (officially Pacifica de Aviación) carrying 10 people flying from Juradó Airport, Columbia to Medellín-Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport, Columbia crashed into a wooded mountainside, killing all 10 people on board.


Specifications (402C Businessliner)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control
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1960s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1965 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear