- Date
- December 19, 1992, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Boulder, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N4384APiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 11, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921219050949A
- Case key
- 18265
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 evaluate changing weather conditions.
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
During an aerial tow, fog closed in. When the glider was released the airport was obscured. The glider landed with no damage or injury. The tow plane attempted to land on a road and during landing roll caught a wing tip on a post. The aircraft nosed over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4384A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-4792
- Airframe hours
- 8,952
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- The Cloud Base, Inc
- Registered owner
- The Cloud Base, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1992 · 160 hours before
- Departed
- IV5 · Boulder, CO
- Destination
- IV5
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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 7,435 total · 3,000 in this make and model · 7,301 as pilot in command · 88 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 10 knots
- Temperature
- 12 °F, dew point 9 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 20 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.