Two San Jose area residents were killed when their Ultralight
airplane crashed into a field near Hollister Municipal Airport on
Thursday.
William Dieck, 60, of San Jose, and James Riley, 77, of
Saratoga, died instantly when their two-seat, single-engine plane
crashed into an agricultural field around 10:25 a.m. at Highway 156
and Shore Road, said San Benito County Sheriff Department Lt. Pat
Turturici.
Two San Jose area residents were killed when their Ultralight airplane crashed into a field near Hollister Municipal Airport on Thursday.
William Dieck, 60, of San Jose, and James Riley, 77, of Saratoga, died instantly when their two-seat, single-engine plane crashed into an agricultural field around 10:25 a.m. at Highway 156 and Shore Road, said San Benito County Sheriff Department Lt. Pat Turturici.
Dieck, a certified flight instructor, and novice Riley had simultaneous control of the plane when it crashed. Riley was sitting in front with Dieck behind him, Turturici said.
After leaving the airport, officials are still unsure how high the plane was flying when it went down.
“Eyewitnesses said the plane was circling above the field and it didn’t seem to be in distress, but lagging a little,” Turturici said. “It veered to the left and then went straight down.”
The witnesses didn’t hear any engine pops or any other obvious signs of complications, Turturici said.
Both bodies were at the crash site for about an hour and a half before they were picked up by the San Benito County Coroner and transported to the morgue, he said.
“It was a tough time separating the bodies from the wreckage,” Turturici said.
Hollister resident Gene Marks, who heard about the crash over a friend’s police scanner, spoke with one of the eye-witnesses before they left the crash site.
According to Marks, the witness was driving with his wife when he saw what he thought was a crop-duster in the sky. When it crashed he thought it was remote controlled so he pulled over and began to go toward the crash, but realized there were people there.
“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 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not conduct an investigation into the crash because of the experimental classification of the craft, Turturici said.
However, a toxicology report will be conducted and a special autopsy will be performed on Dieck because he was a certified flight instructor, he said.
Ultralights are considered experimental aircrafts that can be made at home by purchasing a do-it-yourself kit.
Most of the planes are one-seaters, and the two-seaters are used by instructors for training purposes only, according to federal aviation regulations.
The two-seat crafts are defined in federal regulations as being flying machines which weigh no more than 496 pounds and can carry up to 10 gallons of fuel.
“It’s a hobby for a lot of people… you can only fly for a few minutes at a time,” said Marshal Robert Scattini, who was on the Airport Commission for 19 years. “It’s recreational – you don’t even have to have a pilot’s license.”
Hollister has had maybe three fatal aircraft accidents in the past 10 or 12 years, Scattini said.
About five or six years ago another fatality occurred when a home-built plane crashed into almost the exact same spot as Thursday’s crash, he said.
“I don’t like them,” Scattini said. “You’re just out in the open and there’s (nothing) around you – like you’re sitting out there in a chair.”
The recreational crafts have gained somewhat in popularity over the past two years, but not so much in Hollister, he said.
“We have maybe five or seven out here at the airport,” he said. “We call them widow makers – and a couple of widows were made today.”
Staff writer Michelle Hatfield contributed to this report.
