- Date
- October 24, 1995, 08:06 local (15:06 UTC)
- Place
- San Carlos, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9060NPitts Special S-1C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951024034309A
- Case key
- 29316
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 misjudged landing approach, failure to achieve the proper touchdown point, and his delayed decision to abort the landing.
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 pilot reported that he touched down just past the tower (midfield on the 2,600-foot-long runway) and realized that he would be unable to stop before reaching the end of the runway. He applied full throttle but did not get an immediate response. After some delay he heard the engine accelerate, but he was unable to avoid striking an 8-foot-high pile of rocks about 200 feet from the end of the runway. After striking the rocks, the aircraft descended until impacting the water in an inverted attitude about 800 feet from the end of the runway. The aircraft and engine were examined and no discrepancies were found.
Factual narrative
On October 24, 1995, at 0806 hours Pacific daylight time, a Pitts Special S-1C, N9060N, collided with rocks and water during a go-around at San Carlos airport, San Carlos, California. The pilot was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot and was returning from a local personal flight when the accident occurred. The flight originated in San Carlos at 0745. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed.
The certificated private pilot reported that he touched down just past the tower (midfield on the 2,600-foot-long runway), and realized that he would be unable to stop before reaching the end of the runway. He applied full throttle but did not get an immediate response. After some delay he heard the engine accelerate, but he was unable to avoid striking an 8-foot-high pile of rocks about 200 feet from the end of the runway. After striking the rocks, the aircraft descended until impacting the water in an inverted attitude about 800 feet from the end of the runway.
The pilot reported that he had difficulty in egressing the aircraft due to his parachute snagging on the canopy.
The aircraft and engine were examined by FAA inspectors from the San Jose, California, Flight Standards District Office. No discrepancies were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9060N
- Reported as
- Pitts Special S-1C
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 18
- Airframe hours
- 330
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kevin Baranski-Walker
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 1995 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- SQL
- Airport
- SQL · San Carlos, runway 12, 2,600 × 75 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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 215 total · 18 in this make and model · 137 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SQL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.