Sunday, April 19, 2026

Pipistrel Alpha Trainer, N143AW, accident occurred on April 17, 2026, near Salinas Municipal Airport (SNS/KSNS), Salinas, California

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N143AW

- History of Flight:
On April 17, 2026, at about 1711 local time, a Pipistrel Alpha Trainer, N143AW, registered to Apogee Air Venture LLC, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Salinas Municipal Airport (SNS/KSNS), Salinas, California. There were no injuries. The local flight originated at 1645.

ADS-B data shows that the airplane was conducting several touch-and-go(es) on runway 26. At 1711:38, the airplane conducted a go-around, but was visibility slower (~50 knots groundspeed, previous go-arounds were +60 knots groundspeed) and entered a descending right hand turn into an empty lot.

Figure 1: ADS-B data, note previous groundspeeds recorded at 1703 and 1707.

- Weather:

The reported weather at 1653 included: Winds 290 at 13 knots, gusting 20 knots, visibility 10 miles, no clouds under 12,000 ft, temperature 20°C, dewpoint -3°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.02 inches of mercury.

METAR KSNS 172353Z 29013G20KT 10SM CLR 20/M03 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP176 T02001028 10228 20178 55003

METAR KSNS 180053Z 31011KT 10SM CLR 18/04 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP175 T01830039

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