- Date
- February 13, 1984, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- California City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N71WMaupin WOODSTOCK-I
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840213003299A
- Case key
- 23938
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
During flt, the glider sustained an in-flt failure of both wings, then entered an uncontrolled descent & crashed. An exam of the wreckage revealed no preexisting structural problems. The glider was equipped with a recording barograph. A barograph trace showed that the glider had been airborne about 45 min & had step climbed to 16,500 ft. during the last 5 min it had descended 500 ft & climbed 250 ft, then entered a rapid descent (straight line on the recording) & crashed. Other glider plts reported that N71W was flying in the vicinity of lenticular clouds with bases between 14,000 & 18,000 ft. they reported 'mild wave conditions' with no unusually strong rotor. One plt noted a phenomenon of 'lenticular jump', in which, the cloud could grow faster than a glider could move away. N17W was not equipped for instrument flt & did not have an oxygen sys installed. The plt was diabetic, but a flt surgeon's findings concerning his medical condition at the time of the accident were inconclusive.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N71W
- Reported as
- Maupin WOODSTOCK-I (WOODSTOCK-)
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 317
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jack A. Benedict
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 20, 1984 · 57 hours before
- Departed
- L71 · California City, 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
- 55
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 275 total · 167 in this make and model · 255 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 23 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 20,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- WJF, 28 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.