- Date
- July 5, 2007, 16:17 local (23:17 UTC)
- Place
- Bridgeport, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N11YDSchempp-Hirth Ventus-2C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 30, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20070705013269A
- Case key
- 66179
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 encounter with an unfavorable wind and high sink rate conditions.
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 landed short of the runway after encountering unfavorable wind conditions. According to the pilot and data retrieved from an on-board data recorder, heavy sink was experienced while the pilot maneuvered in the pattern to land, which reduced the glide ratio from 50:1 to 10:1. With inadequate altitude to compensate for the sink, the glider impacted a berm in the rough terrain several hundred feet short of the runway, whereupon it nosed over.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 2007, at 1617 Pacific daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2C, N11YD, made an off field landing and nosed over in Bridgeport, California. The glider was substantially damaged, and the private pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the personal flight, and no flight plan had been filed. The glider was operated by the pilot. The flight was performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, and it originated from Truckee, California, about 1330.
The pilot of a tow plane reported to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that the pilot was considered to be extremely experienced and was familiar with the area. The tow pilot released the accident glider over the Truckee Airport, about 1,600 feet above the ground.
The pilot reported to the Safety Board investigator that while soaring an unfavorable wind was encountered. He attempted to land at the Bridgeport airport, but upon experiencing "heavy sink," the glider touched down in rough terrain a few hundred feet short of runway 34. The glider impacted a berm.
The pilot reported that in still air his glider has a glide ratio of about 50:1. According to his data logger, on final approach during the accident flight his glide ratio had decreased to about 10:1.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11YD
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2C
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 76
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dean A. Aldinger
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- TRK · Truckee, CA
- Destination
- O57 · Bridgeport, CA
- Airport
- O57 · Bryant Field, runway 34, 4,239 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 63
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 472 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 15 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.