# Incident 20070302002849I: Piper PA28181, San Carlos, CA, March 2, 2007

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 2, 2007, 13:55 local time
- Place: San Carlos, CA
- Airport: San Carlos Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Final Approach
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.5119° N, 122.2495° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SAN CARLOS (SQL), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.5119&lon=-122.2495&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6287J, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N6287J) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-28-181 (registry code 7102807, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-28-181) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O&VO-360 series (registry code 41514, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-vo-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA28181
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 4,500 total, 3,000 in this make and model, 15 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20070302002849I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) THE PILOT STATES THAT HE REQUESTED THE KSQL AIRPORT TOWER FOR A CLOSED-PATTERN OPTION TO DO SEVERAL "TOUCH AND GO" FLIGHTS. ON HIS SECOND CYCLE, THE AIRPORT BECAME QUITE BUSY, WITH NUMEROUS DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL REQUESTS. THE TOWER INSTRUCTED HIM TO EXTEND HIS DOWNWIND AND AWAIT INSTRUCTION TO TURN BASE. HE WAS OUT ABOUT 4 MILES ON DOWNWIND BEFORE RECEIVING CLEARANCE TO TURN BASE, AND AT THE TIME HE WAS CLEARED TO LAND AS NUMBER 5. HE PROCEEDED SEARCHING FOR THE FOUR AIRPLANES CLEARED TO LAND BEFORE HIS AIRCRAFT. APPROACHING THE RUNWAY, HE SPOTTED TWO OTHER PLANES AHEAD OF HIM AND REALIZED THAT HE COULD NOT LAND AS CLEARED. AS THERE WAS NO "GO AROUND" INSTRUCTION FROM THE TOWER, HE STARTED TO VEER LEFT, BECAUSE A "GO AROUND" INITIATED BY HIM IN LINE WITH THE RUNWAY WOULD HAVE RUN INTO ANOTHER PLANE THAT HAD JUST LIFTED. THAT'S WHEN HE HIT THE SUSPENDED FIBEROPTIC CABLE, WHICH THE BRIGHT SUN PREVENTED HIM FROM SPOTTING. HE MANAGED NOT TO CRASH THE PLANE, ADVISED THE TOWER OF HIS SITUATION, AND LANDED SAFELY.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.