- Date
- September 21, 2002, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Hemet, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N131ASPZL-Bielsko SZD-42-2 Jantar
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020921024979A
- Case key
- 55759
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 maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude.
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
The glider collided with terrain under unknown circumstances. A witness reported that he and the accident pilot were in separate gliders climbing over the mountains. The accident pilot was about 1,000 feet lower than the witness. Moments later, the witness saw the accident pilot on the side of the mountain with the glider facing downward. Although both gliders were equipped with radios, no radio communications took place. Investigators established control continuity and found no preimpact anomalies.
Factual narrative
On September 21, 2002, about 1330 Pacific daylight time, an experimental PZL-Bielsko SZD-42-2 Jantar glider, N131AS, collided with mountainous terrain near Hemet, California. The private pilot/owner was operating the glider under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries; the glider sustained substantial damage. The personal local flight departed Hemet-Ryan Airport (HMT) about 1140. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator interviewed a glider pilot who witnessed the accident. He reported that he and the accident pilot were in separate gliders climbing over the mountains. The accident pilot was about 1,000 feet lower than the witness. Moments later, the witness saw the accident pilot on the side of the mountain with the glider facing downward. He waved to the accident pilot and the accident pilot waved back. Although both gliders were equipped with radios, no radio communications took place. When rescuers arrived at the accident site at 1428, the pilot was found dead and still in the cockpit.
The day after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident scene. He established control continuity and found no preimpact anomalies. The airframe was intact, and the inboard portion of the right wing partially separated from the fuselage at the root.
An autopsy was conducted on the pilot by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner on September 23, 2002, with specimens retained for toxicological analysis. The results of the toxicological tests were negative for alcohol and all screened drug substances.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N131AS
- Reported as
- PZL-Bielsko SZD-42-2 Jantar
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- B-861
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Malcolm S. Kyle
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- HMT · Hemet, CA
- Destination
- Hemet, CA
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
- 59
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 95 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.90 inHg
- Observed at
- RIV, 57 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.