- Date
- July 11, 1999, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hobbs, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N176VSchempp-Hirth Ventus B/16.6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 23, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990711008899A
- Case key
- 46786
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 inadequate in-flight planning. Factors were the loss of thermal lift, the subsequent stall/spin, and the fence post that he impacted.
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
According to glider race officials, the pilot was returning to the airport, and was approximately 14 nautical miles out. The pilot said that the lift conditions were deteriorating, and he needed to land-out. He said that he selected a road to land on, but as he approached his landing point, he became aware of transmission wires. He subsequently maneuvered his glider away from the wires, but stalled his aircraft. The pilot said that he caught a wing tip, and the glider rotated into a fence. The glider was broken in half, and the nose and vertical stabilizer were damaged.
Factual narrative
On July 11, 1999, approximately 1730 mountain daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Ventus B/16.6 glider, was substantially damaged during an off airport landing (i.e., landing-out) near Hobbs Industrial Park Airport, Hobbs, New Mexico. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant on board, received minor injuries. The aircraft was being operated by the pilot under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight which originated approximately 4.5 hours before the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
According to race officials, the pilot was returning to Hobbs, and was approximately 14 nautical miles from the airport. The pilot said that the lift conditions were deteriorating, and he needed to land-out. He said that he selected a road, but as he approached his landing point, he became aware of transmission wires. He subsequently maneuvered his glider away from the wires, but "stalled his aircraft." The pilot said that he caught a wing tip, and the glider rotated into a fence. The glider was broken in half, and the nose and vertical stabilizer were damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N176V
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth Ventus B/16.6 (VENTUS B/1)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 353
- Airframe hours
- 1,042
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mark L. Saunders
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 1999 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- HBB
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,798 total · 182 in this make and model · 1,546 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOB, 9 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.