- Date
- August 1, 2009, 15:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Sparta, NY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N66FLLet L13
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 19, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA Rochester FSDO
- FAA report
- 20090801048249A
- Case key
- 74423
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 student pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 2
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 student pilot encountered a thermal lift, and climbed to 3,000 feet. He stated in a statement to law enforcement personnel, "I got myself into a spin that I was not sure how to get out of." He further stated, "Somehow I was able to get myself out of that, and was headed back to the airport. This is where it gets vague to me. I think I started into another spin." Another glider pilot who departed 10 to 15 minutes before the student pilot stated he observed the glider about a 1,000 feet or less below him spinning to the left. He made a 360 degree turn looking for the glider and could not see it and figured the pilot recovered from the spin and flew away. Examination of the glider by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed the glider collided with the ground in a nose down left wing attitude. The forward cabin area received structural damage, the left wing was pushed aft and the right wing was accelerated forward. The flaps on both wings were extended. The Pilot's Notes for the L-13 Sailplane states, the glider will stall at 30 knots with the flaps extended. No anomalies were noted with the airframe or flight controls.
Factual narrative
The student pilot encountered a thermal lift, and climbed to 3,000 feet. He stated in a statement to law enforcement personnel, "I got myself into a spin that I was not sure how to get out of." He further stated, "Somehow I was able to get myself out of that, and was headed back to the airport. This is where it gets vague to me. I think I started into another spin." Another glider pilot who departed 10 to 15 minutes before the student pilot stated he observed the glider about a 1,000 feet or less below him spinning to the left. He made a 360 degree turn looking for the glider and could not see it and figured the pilot recovered from the spin and flew away. Examination of the glider by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed the glider collided with the ground in a nose down left wing attitude. The forward cabin area received structural damage, the left wing was pushed aft and the right wing was accelerated forward. The flaps on both wings were extended. The Pilot's Notes for the L-13 Sailplane states, the glider will stall at 30 knots with the flaps extended. No anomalies were noted with the airframe or flight controls.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N66FL
- Reported as
- Let L13 (G)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 026346
- Airframe hours
- 3,944
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- David V. Vanderlinden
- Registered owner
- Finger Lakes Soaring Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 24, 2009 · 26 hours before
- Departed
- DSV · Dansville, NY
- Destination
- DSV · Dansville, NY
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 64
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 55 total · 21 in this make and model · 11 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- DSV, 2 nm away
Docket · 15
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 21, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 12.6 MB 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.