- Date
- August 25, 1990, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Alamogordo, NM
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N777XRSchleicher ASW-19
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900825035999A
- Case key
- 17982
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 control of the glider, which resulted in the pilot induced oscillations.
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
Witnesses reported the private glider pilot over controlled the glider at liftoff during an aircraft tow. The glider entered pilot induced oscillations, struck the runway, bounced back into the air with a nose high attitude, and struck the runway twice more, ending in a reported 40 degree nose down impact with the runway. The impact broke the tail boom, separated the rudder, elevators, and crushed the cockpit. The witnesses extracted the pilot and an ambulance took the seriously injured pilot to a local hospital.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N777XR
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-19
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 19069
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Arthur B. Davis, doing business as Greg Bouten
- Destination
- ALM
- Airport
- ALM · Alamogordo, runway 21, 7,800 × 100 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 115 total · 22 in this make and model · 57 as pilot in command · 11 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 100 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.