- Date
- July 20, 1986, 13:33 local (20:33 UTC)
- Place
- Vacaville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N74162Glasflugel ST Libelle
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860720075449A
- Case key
- 25216
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.
Undershoot
In-flight planning/decision - poorCause
Proper glidepath - not maintainedCause
Loss of control - in flight
Pull-up - excessiveCause
Stall/spin - inadvertentFactor
In flight collision with terrain/water
Analysis
According to witnesses the sailplane was too low on the landing appraoch and in an attempt to stretch the glide the pilot stalled the sailplane and entered a spin prior to contact with the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N74162
- Reported as
- Glasflugel ST Libelle
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 420
- Airframe hours
- 560
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard R. Wythe
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- Vacaville Gliderport
N74162Registration cancelled Sep 14, 1989 · Glasflugel STD LIBELLE 201BAirframe modelGlasflugel STD LIBELLE 201B
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 770 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SUU, 6 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.