SAN JOSE — A small-plane crash two years ago near a small airport happened because of pilot error that caused the plane to lose power shortly after takeoff and not because the airport lacked a certain type of aviation fuel, authorities said.
The National Transportation Safety Board recently released the final report on the July 22, 2022, crash near the Reid-Hillview Airport. The 42-year-old pilot was the plane’s only occupant and survived the crash near the intersection of Ocala Avenue and Karl Street, albeit with significant injuries.
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According to the NTSB, the plane had undergone “inadequate preflight inspection and fuel management.”
The Piper had 15 gallons of fuel available in one of two tanks, but the pilot used a tank that became depleted while the aircraft underwent its annual inspection at the airport. According to the NTSB, those errors by the pilot “resulted in fuel starvation, a total loss of engine power and an impact with the terrain.”
The NTSB said Reid-Hillview Airport did not sell the 100LL leaded aviation fuel that the Piper needed but that the lack of fuel at the airport did not likely influence the pilot’s decision “as he believed he had sufficient fuel to complete the flight.” It is one of only two airports in the country which sell only 94-octane unleaded avgas.
The pilot had intended to fly about 5 miles to Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport, the NTSB said.
Santa Clara County officials made the decision to sell only unleaded avgas at county airports starting in January 2022 after a county-commissioned study released in August 2021 found higher levels of lead in thousands of children living in the area around Reid-Hillview Airport.
A study released in June 2022 found that soil samples taken at the airport did not contain lead levels that exceeded local, state or federal levels. A federal study by the Environmental Protection Agency, released in 2023, found that leaded aviation fuel emissions were a public health hazard.
“The final accident report confirms what we believed to be true at the time of the incident — that the decision to go lead-free at county airports did not cause the crash,” County Executive James R. Williams said in a statement released by the county.
Overfelt High School, Clyde Fischer Middle School, Donald Meyer Elementary, a boys and girls clubhouse and Hank Lopez Community Center, along with scores of homes, all are located with a block or two of the crash site.