- Date
- July 28, 2005, 13:35 local (18:35 UTC)
- Place
- Stanton, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93205Let L 33 Solo
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20050728023929A
- Case key
- 62477
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 failure to maintain a proper descent rate during landing due to the wind gusts. The wind gusts were a factor.
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 was damaged during landing when the right wing struck the ground causing the glider to ground-loop. The pilot reported experiencing extreme turbulence and a rapid descent while on final approach to land. He stated that he retracted the glider's spoilers but the descent continued until the right wing struck the ground. The recorded winds were 220 degrees at 4 knots gusting to 15 knots.
Factual narrative
On July 28, 2005, about 1335 central daylight time, a Let L 33 Solo glider, N93205, piloted by a private pilot sustained substantial damage during landing on runway 18 (2,550 feet by 200 feet, turf), at the Stanton Airfield, Stanton, Minnesota. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The pilot was not injured. The local flight originated about 1250.
In a written statement, the pilot said that while on final approach to land, he experienced extreme turbulence and a very rapid descent. He stated that he immediately closed the glider's spoilers, but the rapid descent continued until the right wing impacted the ground and the glider ground-looped.
The winds recorded at an airport located 12 nautical miles northwest of the accident site were from 220 degrees magnetic at 4 knots gusting to 15 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93205
- Reported as
- Let L 33 Solo
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 930205
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Keith A. McKinley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- SYN · Stanton, MN
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 0 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.