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Atlas / NTSB / OAK69A0014

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event OAK69A0014

1968-08-25 LOS GATOS, California, United States Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N3787P

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PICKRELL JAMES SYME JR SPEZIO SPORT DAL-1

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19810922

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A454DE

Registrant of record

ODONNELL DANIEL V

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

PIPER PA-18A · N3787P

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

Cruise climb (DB)

Operator type

D

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Aircraft history

Total time

968 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

1,000

Age

36

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

P TO AVOID TREES.

Investigator remarks

LOW PASS SO PX COULD TAKE PICTURES.ABRUPT PULL-U

Cause factors

  • 64/A/08 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND DIVERTED ATTENTION FROM OPERATION OF AIRCRAFT Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 84/A/7 A
    MISCELLANEOUS EVASIVE MANEUVER TO AVOID COLLISION Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 64/A/16 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO OBTAIN/MAINTAIN FLYING SPEED Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/A/14 A
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS UNWARRANTED LOW FLYING Cause — pilot/personnel action

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 4539. Source file NTSB_1968_3_4539.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.