- Date
- November 12, 1986, 06:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- San Jose, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N5153WPiper PA-28-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 25471
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
The acft went through a fence and collided with trees after a 'hand-propped' start. The student plt had exhausted the acft battery power during previous starting attempts. He then tied the acft down at both wings and the tail. He primed the eng with the mixture control full rich, throttle full open and the magnetos off. He then opened the throttle aprx 1/4 inch and turned the magnetos on. The eng started immediately when it was hand-propped and accelerated to a high RPM. The acft broke free of the tie down ropes and collided with and passed through a cyclone fence. The acft came to rest when it collided with two trees on the other side of the fence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5153W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-185
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger A. Gearhart
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- RHV · San Jose, CA
- Destination
- PAO · Palo Alto, CA
- Airport
- RHV · Reid-Hillview
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 92 total · 90 in this make and model · 65 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SJC