San Luis County Regional Airport, San Luis Obispo, CA

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Airport Area Accident History:
Accident occurred Monday, April 07, 2008 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 6/30/2008
Aircraft: Cessna 172S, registration: N65630
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The airplane's descent was uneventful. The wind was reported as 300 degrees at 19 knots gusting to 25 knots. After touchdown, the airplane porpoised. The pilot then taxied the airplane to the hangar. Although the landing was very rough, the pilot was unaware that the airplane was damaged. Post-flight examination revealed that the propeller blades were slightly bent to the rear, and the firewall was dented.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's inadequate landing flare, resulting in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the gusty wind condition.

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Accident occurred Wednesday, July 18, 2007 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/31/2007
Aircraft: DTA Sari Combo FC 912, registration: N599CA
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
The airplane collided with the runway while practicing a touch-and-go landing. The flight instructor stated that just as the airplane was rounding out in the flare the airplane made a quick pitch down, which the instructor thought was due to a sudden power reduction by the student. The airplane nose gear impacted the runway and collapsed. The instructor stated that he felt the accident could have been avoided by maintaining steady partial power, maintaining a slight nose-up pitch attitude, and landing farther down the runway. The instructor and student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The student pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing. Also causal was the instructor's inadequate supervision.

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Accident occurred Monday, August 01, 2005 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/26/2007
Aircraft: Piper PA-28-151, registration: N4401X
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
While on the crosswind leg during initial climb, the pilot cruised into upsloping terrain about 0.9 miles from the runway. The pilot's day began when he departed his residence about 0700. Thereafter, he commuted to work, which involved flying a borrowed airplane to a neighboring city. Upon completing work, the pilot was dropped off at the airport. The pilot intended either to fly home or to the location where his next day's work was to be performed. He was due to report to work the following morning at 0730. It was a dark night, and an overcast ceiling existed at 800 feet above the ground. No moon or stars were visible from the airport. A hill was located about 1 mile northeast of the airport. The pilot departed using runway 11, made a left crosswind turn, and impacted the hill while climbing in controlled flight. Fire department personnel responding to the accident site said that the clouds were nearly at ground level and that the forward (horizontal)
visibility was between 1/4- and 1/2-mile. The pilot had received his private pilot certificate the preceding month, at a total flight time of 69.6 hours, including 3.5 hours at night.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain clearance from the rising hilly terrain. Contributing factors were the pilot's inexperience regarding flying during the dark, nighttime condition, and the low ceiling.

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Accident occurred Saturday, May 07, 2005 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 4/25/2006
Aircraft: Champion 7ECA, registration: N42LC
Injuries: 1 Minor.
The pilot landed the airplane in a soccer field and impacted a power pole. The pilot could not remember the circumstances of the accident. Witnesses indicated that the airplane was circling the soccer field with a sputtering engine, prior to the landing. During the landing ground roll, the airplane skidded into a power pole. There was a strong odor of fuel at the accident site and an observed post accident fuel leak from the left wing. Investigators examined the airplane after the accident and the engine was successfully test run. No airframe or engine anomalies were identified. The closest weather observation station was within 10 miles of the accident site and was reporting a temperature and dew point of 8 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively. Review of a carburetor icing probability chart disclosed that the temperature and dew point was in the center of the area for serious icing at any power setting.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

a loss of engine power due to carburetor icing and the pilot's failure to use carburetor heat.

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Accident occurred Sunday, March 21, 2004 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 6/8/2005
Aircraft: Stanley Glasair SH-2, registration: N309TS
Injuries: 1 Minor.
The airplane experienced a loss of engine power and impacted a ditch during the pilot's forced landing in a field. While approaching the proximity of the destination airport, the pilot observed the engine gauges indicating rising oil temperature. About 5 miles from the airport, the engine emitted a loud noise and he declared an emergency due to an engine failure. Realizing that he would be unable to make it to the runway, the pilot executed a forced landing in a field; during the landing roll, the airplane impacted a ditch and tumbled. Post-accident external visual examination by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the engine sustained a catastrophic failure, with a hole knocked in the upper case spine above the rear cylinders. Looking through the hole, the inspector observed that the right rear piston had seized in the No. 3 cylinder and its respective connecting rod was broken just above crankshaft rod end flare. The
inspector could not identify the rod end cap or the bearing shells. The No. 3 piston skirt was visibly scorched in the direction of piston travel. A visual examination of the engine, disclosed that all of the cylinders were worn and scored. After the accident, the owner took the engine to a maintenance facility that examined the engine and reported that rod bearing in the No. 3 cylinder failed. The facility declined to provide detailed observations on the internal condition of the engine, the rod fracture, and condition of the bearing. The FAA inspector said the pilot told him that prior to the accident, the engine was experiencing excessive oil consumption. In response, the pilot removed the No. 3 cylinder from the engine and employed an engine shop to change the piston in an effort to alleviate the excessive oil consumption problems. After the maintenance was preformed, the pilot reinstalled the cylinder. The inspector added that sometime prior to the
accident the pilot had also modified the engine by installing larger pistons.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The loss of engine power due to the failure of the #3 cylinder piston and connecting rod for undetermined reasons.

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Accident occurred Sunday, October 13, 2002 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/28/2004
Aircraft: Piper PA-28-151, registration: N75164
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The airplane collided with an airport sign while taxiing from the runway to parking. The student pilot landed and received an air traffic control instruction to taxi to parking via a specified route. The student departed the runway while attempting to follow the instruction and taxied into a runway remaining distance sign, which she had failed to observe.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's failure to maintain obstacle clearance due to her inadequate visual lookout.

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Accident occurred Wednesday, July 25, 2001 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/25/2003
Aircraft: Cessna 140, registration: N2903N
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The pilot made an uneventful three-point touchdown. Thereafter, the airplane veered left, and the pilot applied rudder pressure and engine power to correct for the yawing moment. The pilot reported that the swerve happened so fast he was unable to take effective corrective action. Airplane control was lost and it nosed over.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing that resulted in dragging the wing and nosing over.

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Accident occurred Monday, January 15, 2001 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 1/2/2002
Aircraft: Cessna T210L, registration: N2508S
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.
The pilot of the taxing Cessna T210L reported that the morning sun was shining directly down the taxiway and made it very difficult to see. He continued taxiing and his left wing struck the right propeller of a Cessna 310 in the run-up area. The resulting collision caused damage to the right engine, propeller, and tip tank of the 310, and severed 5 feet from the T210L's left wing.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot’s failure to ensure adequate taxi clearance between aircraft. A factor in the accident was glare from the morning sun.

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Accident occurred Monday, January 15, 2001 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 1/2/2002
Aircraft: Cessna 310, registration: N890GR
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.
The pilot reported that he was in the run-up area for runway 29 and had just completed cycling the props when he noticed movement to the right side of the aircraft. He looked over and saw a Cessna T210L approaching from his right and slightly behind. The T210L's left wing struck the right tip tank then passed through the propeller arc of the right engine and was severed approximately 5 feet inboard. Both aircraft were shutdown and there were no injuries. The pilot of the taxing T210L reported the morning sun restricted his vision, but he continued to taxi.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The failure of the other pilot to ensure adequate taxi clearance between aircraft.

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Accident occurred Saturday, January 06, 2001 in San Luis Obispo, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/15/2002
Aircraft: Cessna 172F, registration: N383CA
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
During the instrument flight rules initial climb after takeoff, in fog, to visual conditions on top, the airplane collided with the ground about 1 mile from the departure runway. Prior to departure on runway 11, the pilot contacted the control tower to request the instrument departure to on-top and was advised to standby. During the course of communication the pilot was advised the "tops" were 300 feet above ground level, and was issued a clearance to taxi to the runway. The tower advised the pilot that they were closing and to contact ARTCC for release. The pilot obtained the IFR clearance and was released to on-top. The pilot's release included a standard instrument departure that required a right turn to 130 degrees after departure. There was no further communication with the pilot and radar contact was never established. The airplane subsequently collided with the ground, south of the runway, in a steep right wing down attitude on a magnetic heading
of 180 degrees. Examination of the airplane wreckage did not reveal any system anomalies. The vacuum pump drive shear-shaft was found intact and there was rotational scoring of the attitude indictor gyroscope rotor.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper climb rate to VFR conditions on-top.

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Accident occurred Saturday, September 30, 2000 in SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/6/2001
Aircraft: Piper PA-38, registration: N2493G
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious.
The recently certificated, non-instrument rated, private pilot took off in conditions of nighttime darkness from a coastal valley airport and climbed over a sparsely lighted area toward rising terrain. The airplane entered low stratus clouds that were not visible to the pilot until the airplane flew into them. He attempted to reverse course back toward the airport; however, during the turn the right wingtip contacted terrain in a plowed field and the airplane cartwheeled to the ground. The accident site was 4 miles from the departure airport and 120 feet higher elevation. The pilot obtained his certificate about 3 weeks prior and had 55 total flying hours, which included 5 hours at night. The pilot reported there were no mechanical problems with the aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while turning to reverse course following inadvertent nighttime flight into instrument meteorological conditions. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in nighttime operations.

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Accident occurred Tuesday, July 18, 2000 in SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/1/2001
Aircraft: Piper PA-38-112, registration: N2400P
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
The pilot was taxiing from the ramp to the runway. Prior to releasing the parking brake to move out of the parking spot, he visually verified that there were no people or vehicles in the area. While conducting the brake check he looked down into the cockpit to verify that he had a standby option on his radio. He noted that he did not have a standby option and returned his attention to the outside of the airplane and started the airplane moving in a forward direction. When he looked up from inside the cockpit he saw a refueling truck had positioned itself outside of the yellow parking space line. He attempted to avoid the vehicle by engaging full left rudder and left brake; however, the right wingtip collided with the vehicle.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The pilot's inadequate visual lookout while taxiing to the runway, which resulted in his failure to see and avoid the fuel truck



San Luis County Regional Airport Approach / Landing: