- Date
- April 15, 1982, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tulare, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 15, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA reports
- 19820415009521A19820415009522A
- Case key
- 72871
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 glider pilot entered a thermal with three other sailplanes and began to climb. Two of the sailplanes were about 1000 ft below him and the other plane was about 500 ft above. As the pilot was climbing to about 4000 ft MSL, he lost sight to the sailplane above him and elected to leave the thermal. As he was preparing to leave, he saw the other plane on a collision course. He took evasive action, but was too late. The right wing of his plane struck the left wing of N6KS. About 10 ft of the right wing separated and the plane went out of control. The pilot bailed out successfully and the glider came to rest upright in an open field. The pilot of the other glider managed to bail out, but his parachute did not open.
After releasing from the tow aircraft, the glider pilot proceeded to gain altitude in a thermal along with other sailplanes. At an altitude of about 4000 ft MSL, a collision occurred with one of the other sailplanes. About 9 ft of the left wing separated and the plane went out of control. The pilot failed to release the canopy, but was able to free himself from the plane. Reportedly, he had sufficient time and altitude to open his parachute, but the chute did not open. An examination of the parachute revealed that the rip chord was extended with pins free of the back pack retainers. The pilot chute was deployed along with a small portion of the main chute. The pilot of the other glider bailed out successfully.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N6KS
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-20
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20362
- Airframe hours
- 133
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Rick'S Glass Tech
- Registered owner
- Rick'S Glass Tech
- Departed
- Tulare, CA
- Destination
- Tulare, CA
- Airport
- Tulare Municipal
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.
- Registration
- N161SS
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbah Speed Astir II (SPEED ASTI)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 4009
- Airframe hours
- 320
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert Stanley Winsor
- Registered owner
- Ben W, Dysart/Robert Stanley W
- Departed
- Tulare, CA
- Destination
- Tulare, CA
- Airport
- Tulare Municipal
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N6KS
- Age
- 25
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 2, Invalid Medical for flight
- Flight hours
- 735 total · 231 in this make and model · 13 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N161SS
- Age
- 58
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 23 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 2
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.