Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chalone Vineyard Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Soledad, California 93960
Saturday, February 27, 1988 14:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
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.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
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.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/27/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | SOLEDAD |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93960 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CHALONE VINEYARD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 53CA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 1680 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1447 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 286 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 84 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2294 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 27 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 40176 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 11:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7660J |
| NTSB Number | LAX88FA117 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-31060 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 30 1987 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 56 |
| Airframe Hours | 3953 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SKYHIKERS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | THREE HARBOR DRIVE SUITE 111 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAUSALITO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94965 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SNS |
| Departure City | SALINAS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1426 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 7 |
| Runway Length | 1750 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |