- Date
- July 15, 1995, 12:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Durango, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8611RSchweizer SGS 126B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950715018739A
- Case key
- 19505
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
Inaccurate weather evaluation by the pilot-in-command. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
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
While on a student solo training flight, the pilot could not find areas of lift and made a landing in the only available field. During landing roll, the glider struck a fence.
Factual narrative
On July 15, 1995, at 1230 mountain daylight time, a Schweizer SGS 126B Glider, N8611R, sustained substantial damage during an off airport landing near Durango, Colorado. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local area student solo training flight, and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, he encountered weather conditions which caused a sink rate to develop and he could not find thermals for lift. He said he made an off airport landing in the only field within his gliding range and the glider struck a fence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8611R
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 126B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 137
- Airframe hours
- 1,892
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- La Vern D. St Clair
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 1995 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- DRO · CO
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 9 total · 6 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DRO, 15 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.