- Date
- July 12, 1995, 10:47 local (17:47 UTC)
- Place
- Livermore, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N715LPitts S-1S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950712049329A
- Case key
- 29150
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
the pilot's failure to maintain runway alignment and subsequent collision with some bales of hay.
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
After a normal three-point landing, the aircraft began drifting to the left and departed the left side of the runway. The pilot stated in her report that she applied hard right rudder and brake without success. The aircraft entered a furrow that parallels the runway and collided with some tightly packed, heavy bales of hay. Examination of the brakes and flight controls found no discrepancies, nor did the pilot report any to the FAA afterwards. The pilot told the FAA inspector that the aircraft got away from her.
Factual narrative
On July 12, 1995, at 1047 hours Pacific daylight time, the pilot of an experimental Pitts S-1S, N715L, departed off the left side of runway 25R at Livermore Municipal Airport, Livermore, California. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time. The winds were reported from 230 degrees at 7 knots. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and the pilot was not injured. The pilot departed an hour earlier for a local pleasure flight.
According to the pilot, the aircraft began drifting to the left on rollout after a normal three-point landing. The aircraft did not respond to control inputs and the aircraft departed the runway. The aircraft proceeded parallel to the runway with the main landing gear wheels in a dirt furrow. The aircraft then collided with some tightly packed, heavy bales of hay from a recent mowing.
The pilot reported to an Federal Aviation Administration inspector afterwards that there were no mechanical problems with the aircraft and that the aircraft got away from her.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N715L
- Reported as
- Pitts S-1S
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 5-71
- Airframe hours
- 678
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carol A. Christian
- Registered owner
- Owen C. Bateson, Dc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 5, 1995 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- LVK
- Airport
- LVK · Livermore Municipal, runway 25R, 5,255 × 100 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
- 44
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,786 total · 5 in this make and model · 1,650 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LVK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.