- Date
- June 23, 2015, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hobbs, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N172VCSchempp-Hirth Ventus 2C
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150623008509A
- Case key
- 91428
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 improper compensation for gusty wind conditions which resulted in impact with terrain short of the runway.
Findings · 4
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 pilot reported that he was landing on the runway 12 ramp area and entered the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern at 1000 feet above the ground. The pilot reported that downdrafts caused the glider's rapid loss of altitude and was unable to reach the landing area. The pilot landed in a field northwest of the airport where the glider impacted a mesquite bush with the left wing and ground looped. The glider sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, canopy, and left wing. Runway 12 is 8,810 feet long by 150 feet wide. The ramp area that parallels the runway to the north side is 7500 feet long by 350 feet wide. A weather reporting station five miles south of the accident site reported wind from 140 degrees at17 knots and gusting to 24 knots prior to the accident. A review of local weather data showed there were no strong lifting mechanisms for the formation of clouds or precipitation near the surface at the time of the accident and the pilot likely encountered gusty surface wind while descending to the airport. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing on the runway 12 ramp area and entered the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern at 1000 feet above the ground. The pilot reported that downdrafts caused the glider's rapid loss of altitude and was unable to reach the landing area. The pilot landed in a field northwest of the airport where the glider impacted a mesquite bush with the left wing and ground looped. The glider sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, canopy, and left wing. Runway 12 is 8,810 feet long by 150 feet wide. The ramp area that parallels the runway to the north side is 7500 feet long by 350 feet wide. A weather reporting station five miles south of the accident site reported winds from 140 degrees at17 knots and gusting to 24 knots prior to the accident. A review of local weather data showed there were no strong lifting mechanisms for the formation of clouds or precipitation near the surface at the time of the accident and the pilot likely encountered gusty surface winds while descending to the airport. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N172VC
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth Ventus 2C (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 17
- Built
- 1996
- Airframe hours
- 1,534
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Air race/show · Part 91
- Operator
- KEITH MILLER and DAVID Van Der LINDEN
- Registered owner
- KEITH MILLER and DAVID Van Der LINDEN
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 25, 2015
- Departed
- NM83 · Hobbs, NM
- Destination
- NM83 · Hobbs, NM
- Airport
- NM83 · Industrial Airpark, runway 12, 8,810 × 150 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Last flight review
- December 17, 2014
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 960 total · 944 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 17 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KHOB, 4 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 12, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.1 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.