Two Dead -- Cause Unknown

Numerous media reports have trumpeted the tragedy that has befallen two men who were killed after their "ultralight" aircraft went down near the Hollister Municipal Airport (CA) Thursday. Authorities said William Dieck, 60, of San Jose, and James Riley, 77, of Saratoga, were killed instantly.

Mind you, there is no, technically, such thing as a two seat ultralight... only two-seat vehicles that have been waivered/allowed to operate under expanded regs for the purposes of ultralight training and familiarization... but asking anyone in the general media to do such homework is probably way too much to hope for.

For the record, as defined by FAR Part 103, an ultralight is a SINGLE occupant vehicle... or more specifically....

"Eyewitnesses said the plane was circling above the field and it didn’t seem to be in distress, but lagging a little," said San Benito County Sheriff Department Lt. Pat Turturici. "It veered to the left and then went straight down."

The Hollister (CA) Free-Press quoted one man who heard about the crash on his police scanner and rushed to the scene. Gene Marks told the newspaper a man and wife driving near the airport at the time of the accident first thought the "ultralight" (manufacturer and type unknown) was a crop-duster. When the aircraft went down, Marks says the man ran over to the wreckage, then realized there were people on board the "ultralight."

"He said it swooped down into the ground, that (the victims) didn’t have a chance,” Marks said. “They said they were going to have nightmares for a while.”

The FAA says it won't investigate the accident [even though the FAA report notes that the aircraft was involved in some mode of government service--E-I-C], given that it involved an "ultralight." But local authorities said they would conduct toxicology tests and special autopsies to see if they could glean any further information on the cause of the accident.

In a truly disturbing note, Marshal Robert Scattini, a member of the local airport commission board for 19 years, was quoted in the Free-Press as saying, "I don’t like (ultralights). You’re just out in the open and there’s (nothing) around you - like you’re sitting out there in a chair."

[E-I-C Note: Thank you very much for that bit of sport aviation solidarity (not) and ignorant anti-ultralight myopia, Mr. Scattini.]

Scattini went on to say, "We have maybe five or seven out here at the airport. We call them widow-makers -- and a couple of widows were made today."

It's bad enough when the aviation world is portrayed in a false and negative light... it's worse still (in our opinion) when such nonsense comes from someone in our own community.

** Report created 1/9/2004 Record 6 **
IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: UNREG Make/Model: ULTR Description: UNREGISTERED ultralight
 Date: 01/08/2004 Time: 1825
 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
 Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
 City: HOLLISTER State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
UNREGISTERED ultralight, A CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY PUBLIC USE AIRCRAFT, CRASHED IN A OPEN FIELD UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, HOLLISTER, CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
 # Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
 # Pass: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
 # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
 Activity: Training Phase: Unknown Operation: Other
 Departed: UNK Dep Date: Dep. Time:
 Destination: UNK Flt Plan: UNK Wx Briefing: U
 Last Radio Cont: UNK  Last Clearance: UNK
 FAA FSDO: SAN JOSE, CA (WP15) Entry date: 01/09/2004

FMI: www.calpilots.org/html