- Date
- December 23, 1984, 14:27 local (22:27 UTC)
- Place
- Palo Alto, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N272HPitts Special SST
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841223069329A
- Case key
- 24624
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During 3 previous touch & go landings the plt noticed a slight tendency for the acft to turn rt during the landing roll roll. He decided to make a full stop landing. During the landing the plt allowed the acft roll onto the runway shoulder. He said he was unaware that the shoulder was soft & marshy from the recent rains. The rt main gear sank into the mud & acft nosed-up.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N272H
- Reported as
- Pitts Special SST
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 711H
- Airframe hours
- 370
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gopal Ramachandran
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1984 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- PAO
- Airport
- PAO · Palo Alto, runway 30, 2,500 × 65 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,581 total · 123 in this make and model · 1,281 as pilot in command · 44 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.