- Date
- September 1, 1985, 17:15 local (Sep 2, 1985, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- California City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N711DPGlasflugel ST Liebelle 201B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850901045459A
- Case key
- 24838
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.
In flight encounter with weather
Weather condition - downdraftFactor
Compensation for wind conditions - inadequateCause
Weather evaluation - inaccurateCause
Forced landing
On ground/water encounter with terrain/water
Terrain condition - high vegetationFactor
Directional control - not maintainedCause
Ground loop/swerve - uncontrolledCause
Analysis
The glider landed off the arpt on a road and groundlooped after colliding with shrubbery. The plt complained of encountering a downdraft during the flt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N711DP
- Reported as
- Glasflugel ST Liebelle 201B (ST LIEBELL)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 517
- Airframe hours
- 349
- Engine
- None NONE, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger Grigsby
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 9, 1985 · 29 hours before
- Departed
- L71 · California City, CA
- Airport
- L71 · California City
N711DPRegistration cancelled Jun 21, 2025 · Glasflugel STD LIBELLE 201BAirframe modelGlasflugel STD LIBELLE 201BEngine modelNONE
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Expired
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,426 total · 125 in this make and model · 1,253 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 20 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F
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 N711DP · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.