- Date
- November 12, 1989, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Paint Bank, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2880HSchweizer SGS-1-35C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891112066349A
- Case key
- 11577
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 pilot's improper inflight planning which led to an off-airport landing after encountering deteriorating lift conditions. Contributing factors were the mountainous terrain and lack of a suitable landing area.
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
Enroute the plt elected to return to his departure arpt due to deteriorating lift conditions. Conditions continued to deteriorate and the plt diverted to a closer arpt. He reported that two mountain ridges had to be crossed to reach the arpt. He was able to cross one ridge; however, insufficient lift remained to clear the second ridge. The plt reported that there was no suitable landing area available and the glider was landed in trees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2880H
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS-1-35C
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 70
- Airframe hours
- 412
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Steven D. Stigler
- Registered owner
- Steven D Stigler
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 12, 1989 · 14 hours before
- Departed
- 08VA · Buchanan, VA
- Destination
- Tazwell, VA
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 82 total · 37 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 315° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.