- Date
- August 12, 1995, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Louisburg, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7592Schweizer 233A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 16, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950812023199A
- Case key
- 3613
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The flight instructor's improper in-flight planning and decision, in that he failed to maintain sufficient altitude to clear the trees surrounding the airport, and failed to take into consideration the high density altitude at the time of the accident.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The glider instructor stated that, during the turn from base to final approach, he encountered a down draft. He stated that he could not arrest the aircraft descent prior to impacting the trees adjacent to the runway. The temperature was 33 degrees celsius, and the density altitude of the airport at the time of the accident was 2,762 feet.
Factual narrative
On August 12, 1995, at 1430 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer 233A glider, N7592, was substantially damaged following a collision with trees while turning base for a full stop landing at North Raleigh Airport in Louisburg, North Carolina. The instructional flight was being operated under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Neither the flight instructor nor the pre-solo student pilot were injured in the accident. The flight departed Louisburg, North Carolina, at 1400 hours.
According to the flight instructor, as they turned from the downwind leg to base during landing, they experienced a down draft. The flight instructor stated that the sink rate increased at such a rate that he could not arrest the sink rate before the glider collided with the trees. No mechanical problems were reported with the glider.
The temperature was 33 degrees celsius, and the density altitude of the airport at the time of the accident was 2,762 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7592
- Reported as
- Schweizer 233A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 192
- Airframe hours
- 3,200
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carolina Gliding
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1995 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- 00NC
- Airport
- OONC · North Raleigh Airport, runway 5, 2,650 × 36 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 3,300 total · 500 in this make and model · 2,600 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 10 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.