- Date
- April 17, 1982, 14:25 local (21:25 UTC)
- Place
- Near Tucson, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N65937Schweizer SGS 1-126E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 17, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820417010069A
- Case key
- 71945
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 pilot was on a triangular round-robin course. On the third leg of the flight, he encounter unfavorable lift conditions and elected to land on a dirt road. He started a 270 deg turn to final approach. Reportedly, a strong, turbulent, wind shear condition was encountered during the turn and the glider entered a spin. The pilot recovered from the spin, but was still recovering from a dive when the aircraft impacted the ground. The impact angle was estimated to be about 30 deg.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65937
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-126E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 577
- Airframe hours
- 1,704
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tucson Soaring Club
- Departed
- Ryan Airfield T, AZ
- Destination
- Ryan Airfield T, AZ
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 866 total · 18 in this make and model · 406 as pilot in command · 76 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 35 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N65937 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.