HIDDEN VALLEY ? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the midair collision that killed two above Crazy Creek airfield in Middletown on Nov. 28. The preliminary report is subject to change.
Investigator-In-Charge (IIC) Eliott Simpson said that a final report will be forwarded to the NTSB within the next three to six months. He said the board will offer its findings within one to two months after receiving the final report.
The midair collision, which involved a Piper PA-25-235 airplane and a Schleicher ASW-27 glider, occurred at approximately 11:15 a.m. Sean Boylan, 44, of Hidden Valley Lake and Harold Harvey Chouinard, 63, of Cotati where both killed in the collision. Boylan was piloting the Piper while Chouinard was the pilot of the glider.
According to Simpson”s report, the collision occurred approximately 10 minutes after the aircrafts departed the airfield. Witnesses observed the airplane release the glider about six miles west of the airport at an altitude of about 3,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The airplane then maneuvered in the vicinity of the release and turned back toward the airport.
After the release the glider tracked to the north along an adjacent ridgeline and shortly thereafter, it turned to the southeast toward the airport, the report states. According to witnesses, both aircraft entered the downwind leg of the northwest runway at about the same time with the glider on the right downwind and the airplane on the left downwind.
“The witnesses observed both aircraft continue on the downwind and turn onto their respective base legs at about the same time. As the aircraft simultaneously turned to final, they collided,” Simpson stated. “The witnesses reported that neither aircraft performed any abrupt or evasive maneuvers prior to the collision.”
Both aircraft came to rest about 1,300 feet east of the approach end of the runway. The airplane was located 40 feet north of the runway centerline with glider located 400 feet to the southwest. The wreckage path began at approximately the midpoint of the two aircraft and continued for about 700 feet.
“The debris path consisted of outboard sections of the glider”s right wing and a three-foot section of the airplane”s right wing tip,” Simpson stated. “A two-foot section of the glider”s right wing tip was located with the main wreckage of the airplane adjacent to the right wing leading edge.”
Boylan”s wife, Leona Boylan, said she and her husband shared an ironic conversation prior to the incident. “Ironically, the previous Saturday my husband and I were talking about death. He said that when he went he wanted to be doing something that he loved ? flying or abalone diving,” she said. “He died doing what he loved.”
Leona Boylan recalled the morning of the collision. “We made breakfast and pulled out the motorcycle because we were going to go for a ride when he got back. He was only scheduled for a few tows that morning,” she said. “I think the hard thing for me is that he did the towing like he did that morning so many times before and he did nothing wrong. When the glider released he did his standard flight pattern for landing like he done so many time before.”
Both pilots were found near the wreckage of their respective aircrafts and both were pronounced dead on the scene.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
