- Date
- February 27, 1988, 14:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Soledad, CA
- Injuries
- 4 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7660JPiper PA-28R-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880227005629A
- Case key
- 25812
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Pilot's failure to promptly initiate remedial action and his failure to raise the aircraft's landing gear during an attempted go-around. Contributing factors relate to the pilot's poor in-flight decision, inattentiveness to VFR procedures and his not maintaining clearance over the underlying terrain.
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 plt & 3 passengers were on a flt to a 1750 ft airstrip at a vineyard. The airstrip owner said he informed the plt that the strip was located on the side of a hill, that terrain rose rapidly to the east & north of the strip, & that there was lower terrain to the south. Drg an apch to land from the west, the plt elected to go around. Witnesses saw the acft flying slowly over rwy 7 with the gear extended. After flying past the end of the rwy, the acft was observed to enter a left turn toward rising terrain. It cleared the top of the hill, but hit 2 trees just beyond the hilltop & crashed. The landing gear was found in the extended position. An automatic feature of the gear would keep it extended below 85 mph, except when the override device was used. This was the plt's 1st flt to the airstrip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7660J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-31060
- Airframe hours
- 3,953
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Skyhikers, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 30, 1987 · 56 hours before
- Departed
- SNS · Salinas, CA
- Airport
- 53CA · Chalone Vineyard, runway 7, 1,750 × 40 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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 450 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SNS, 21 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.