Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
S County Of Santa Clar Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Martin, California 95406
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 18:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A ground witness at the airport reported that the engine sounded normal, and the approach looked "rock solid," when all of a sudden the airplane veered to the right and hit a building. A pilot landing his helicopter at the time of the accident reported hearing the radio transmissions of the accident pilot. He reported that the pilot sounded normal with no distress in his voice. Several other witnesses traveling on the highway at the time reported the accident airplane making a sharp right turn and impacting a building where it burst into flames. According to the ground witness at the airport, the pilot was from the local area. While this was not the pilot's home airport, he would have been familiar with it. An examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the autopsy findings for the pilot showed severe unrecognized coronary artery disease, which would have put him at risk for sudden incapacitation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's incapacitation due to severe unrecognized coronary artery disease that resulted in a loss of aircraft control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Martin |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95406 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1213500W |
| Event Location Airport | S County Airport of Santa Clar |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E16 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 281 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WVI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 163 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26449 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 20 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 5 2010 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SJC-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N711BZ |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA272 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SOCATA |
| Aircraft Model | RALLYE 235E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12936 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2315 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 3 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1580 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Silicon Rallye Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Palo Alto |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 943301 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Silicon Rallye Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palo Alto |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 943301 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | E16 |
| Departure City | San Martin |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1755 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | E16 |
| Destination City | San Martin |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 16 2009 5:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |