# Incident 20220830023229I: Applebay Sailplanes ZUNI, Albuquerque, NM, August 30, 2022

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 30, 2022, 14:15 local time
- Place: Albuquerque, NM
- Airport: Albuquerque International Sunport
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Rollout
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 35.0389° N, 106.6083° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at ALBUQUERQUE INTL SUNPORT (ABQ), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.0389&lon=-106.6083&mi=10
- Aircraft: N859GS, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N859GS) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Applebay Sailplanes ZUNI (registry code 0130202, https://openairdocs.org/model/applebay-sailplanes-zuni) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: NONE (registry code 00000, https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: APPLEBAY SAILPLANES ZUNI
- Reported engine: NONE NONE
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 889 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20220830023229I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

ON AUGUST 30, 2022, AT 1415 MDT, A ZUNI, SAILPLANE, ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, MADE AN OFF FIELD LANDING 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE ALBUQUERQUE SUNPORT.  THE COMMERCIAL PILOT WAS NOT INJURED.  AIRCRAFT DAMAGE CONSISTING OF A CRACKED MONOCOQUE NOSE.  THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED AND OPERATED IN VFR CONDITIONS FROM MORIARTY MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (0E0) ON AUGUST 30, 2022 AT APPROXIMATELY 1315 MDT.  NO FLIGHT PLAN WAS FILED AND FLIGHT FOLLOWING WAS NOT REQUESTED.

^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^WAS PARTICIPATING IN THE ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^, A SAILPLANE RACING EVENT ORIGINATING IN 0E0.  THE PILOT TOOK OFF AND NOTED THAT AN UNFORECASTED THUNDERSTORM HAD BEGUN TO DEVELOP.  THE LOCATION OF THE STORM AND THE FACT THAT IT WAS MOVING WESTWARD, FORCED ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^TO CROSS THE MANZANO MOUNTAINS AND ATTEMPT TO LAND AT THE ALBUQUERQUE SUNPORT.  HOWEVER, RAIN AND DOWNDRAFTS DEGRADED THE GLIDE PERFORMANCE OF THE SAILPLANE TO THE POINT WHERE THE PILOT DEEMED IT SAFER TO LAND ON A DIRT ROAD.  WHEN THE SAILPLANE SLOWED TO 50 KIAS, A WIND GUST LIFTED ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^OFF THE GROUND WHEREUPON IT DRIFTED INTO A FENCE POST AND CAME TO AN ABRUPT STOP.

NTSB WAS NOTIFIED AND AFTER EVALUATING PHOTOS, CLASSIFIED THIS AS AN INCIDENT.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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