Martin Shapiro died trying to be safe.
After taking off from South County Airport Wednesday evening,
the licensed pilot and retired IBM programmer decided to loop
around and perform a practice landing before flying his
single-engine plane back to Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose. But
something went wrong.
the crash scene and firefighters putting out the fire.
Martin Shapiro died trying to be safe.
After taking off from South County Airport Wednesday evening, the licensed pilot and retired IBM programmer decided to loop around and perform a practice landing before flying his single-engine plane back to Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose. But something went wrong.
The plane veered off path as it flew over the Church Street bridge, crossed over rush-hour traffic along U.S. 101 and then slammed into the front of the California Highway Patrol weigh station on the freeway’s northbound side shortly after 6 p.m. Within minutes, about 25 firefighters from Gilroy, Santa Clara County and Cal Fire extinguished the burning, mangled fuselage, the nose of which penetrated a hole in the building’s 1-foot-thick concrete wall, shattering windows and cracking water pipes. The thick black smoke stained the facade before dissipating, and all that remained was a charred rudder flapping in the wind.
There were no other injuries because CHP officers spent Wednesday training, so the building was vacant when Shapiro’s 1977 SOCATA Rallye crashed into the concrete structure, according to CHP Assistant Chief Troy Abney. The weigh station normally stays open 24 hours a day during the week, and about 12 people, ranging from employees to civilians, occupy the building during the day, according to CHP Spokesperson Chris Armstrong.
