I happen to be flying this day and saw that the pilot and airplane were being towed back (thankfully!) Soon after I found an article that was written in the SF Chronicle. It is so vague, it seems almost pointless, the writer says it was either a one seater or a two, it happened on landing or takeoff???? Hello did this person verify any information in the smallest possible way. NO he did not. I knew more about the accident because I was there and could as the airport manager - oh wait, shouldn't he have done that too? It is irresponsible to the pilot and General Aviation to write such an article. Below is both the NTSB report and the "newspaper" article.
NTSB Identification: SEA07CA09914 CFR Part 91: General AviationAccident occurred Saturday, April 07, 2007 in San Martin, CAAircraft: Barnett MA-5 Charger, registration: N20HDInjuries: 1 Uninjured.
During a telephone interview and subsequent written statement, the pilot reported that he entered the pattern on left base for landing on runway 14. The pilot stated that he was low turning from base to final approach and added power, however, the engine did not respond. The pilot realized that he would not make the runway and chose an open field for an off airport landing. During the landing roll, the pilot intentionally ground looped the aircraft to avoid a collision with a fence. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the right landing gear attach fitting and longeron as well as the right wing tip.
Full narrative available
This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/07/BAG7CP4TSG5.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------Saturday, April 7, 2007 (SF Chronicle)Small plane crashes in Santa Clara CountyJim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer (04-07) 19:44 PDT -- A small, single-engine plane crashed this afternoonnear the South County Airport in San Martin (Santa Clara County), but noone was injured. The unidentified pilot apparently lost control of the plane at 3:15 p.m.,about a half-mile north of the runway. The plane crashed on bare groundwithin 1,000 feet of Highway 101. It is unclear whether the pilot was taking off or landing, said Capt. JimCrawford of the CalFire Emergency Command Center in Morgan Hill. He saidthe one- or two-seat plane did not catch fire, and the pilot was able towalk away from the accident. E-mail Jim Doyle at jdoyle@sfchronicle.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle
