Reid Hillview Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Jose, California 95148
Sunday, August 23, 2009 17:37 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The sport pilot instructor completed a lesson with a student and was planning to return to his home airport. While starting the engine, the power immediately increased and the airplane lurched forward. Over the course of several seconds, the airplane continued forward and collided with two parked airplanes. A postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal the reason for the engine's sudden increase of power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during engine startup, which resulted in a collision with parked aircraft. Contributing to the accident was the engine's inadvertent increase to high power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/2009
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1737
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City San Jose
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95148
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 371958N
Event Location Longitude 1214911W
Event Location Airport Reid Hillview
Event Location Nearest Airport ID RHV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 135
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1750 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KRHV
Elevation of weather observation facility 135
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.9
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 27628
NTSB Notification Source FAA AWP Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 10 2010 1:41PM
User who most recently changed record kelz
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2356W
NTSB Number WPR09LA413
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 ANTARES US
Aircraft Model MA-34R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 028816 PCM
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category --
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Peter C Marsh
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Chugiak
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99567
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Peter C Marsh
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Chugiak
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99567
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 RHV
Departure City San Jose
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1737
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code E16
Destination City San Martin
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 2 2010 5:36PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --