- Date
- January 29, 2011, 15:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Wellington, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N15XPMcholland C L Solitare
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing area undershoot
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Denver FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110129001039A
- Case key
- 78257
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 glider pilot’s misjudgment while approaching to land, which resulted in an off-airport landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The glider pilot reported he was returning to land when he noticed another glider waiting for departure on the runway. He elected to land instead on another runway that required that he fly further. The pilot said that he turned on the base leg of the traffic pattern too far away from the intended runway and that he did not anticipate the substantial downdraft and very strong headwind that he encountered on final approach. The glider landed approximately 500 feet short of the intended runway and impacted terrain and a railroad embankment, causing substantial damage to the glider's fuselage and right wing.
Factual narrative
The glider pilot reported he was returning to land when he noticed another glider waiting for departure on the runway. He elected to land instead on another runway that required that he fly a further flight distance. The pilot said that he turned his base leg for landing too far away from the intended runway and that he did not anticipate the substantial downdraft and very strong headwind which he encountered on final approach. The glider landed approximately 500 feet short of the intended runway and impacted terrain and a railroad embankment causing substantial damage to the glider's fuselage and the right wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15XP
- Reported as
- Mcholland C L Solitare
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 30
- Airframe hours
- 377
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 22, 2010
- Departed
- 4CO2 · Wellington, CO
- Destination
- 4CO2 · Wellington, CO
- Airport
- 4CO2 · Owl Canyon Gliderport, runway 27, 1,800 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 23, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 784 total · 10 in this make and model · 682 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 25 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 24, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 851 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.