Cessna crash is second air disaster near proposed high school in 378 days

by Peter Nichols

WATSONVILLE — During the evening hours of August 31, 2001, a single engine Cessna crashed through a grove of eucalyptus trees and onto the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks in dense fog. The pilot, Neal J. Hoffman, 44, of Santa Cruz was critically injured.

Pajaro Valley Unified School Board Trustee Sandra Nichols inspects debris remaining after the Cessna crashed less than a mile from a proposed school site. The resultant fire blackened the hillside in the background.

The crash is the second air disasters in the vicinity of a controversial new high school being planned on the border of a critical airport safety zone since August of 2000. The Pajaro Valley Unified School District is acquiring the site and received a "green light" from state authorities who judged the site to have "no unduehazards," though a parade of planes pass over the site on a daily basis. The linked map of crash sites shows the proximity of the crashes to the proposed school site.

Airplane metal, melted and fused to rock is all that remains of the Cessna.

On August 18, 2000 a Robinson helicopter exploded in mid air killing the pilot, a flight instructor, and one passenger, his student. Debris from the crash was scattered nearly 500 ft. from the crash site.

Opponents of the proposed school have warned school and city officials, as well as local state regulators and legislators that the school will put the planned enrollment of 2,200 students and 100 plus teachers and staff in serious danger. Fog often blankets the area obstructing vision and a majority of the airport's operations are touch-and-go training flights.

School officials have argued that there is no alternative location for the "much needed" school which they hope will solve what they describe as "severe overcrowding" at the district's two existing high schools.

The Cessna crashed approximately 5,250 feet from the proposed school while the helicopter crashed one and one-quarter mile away.