- Date
- September 22, 1990, 14:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- California City, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N6135Schleicher ASW-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900922041649A
- Case key
- 26555
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
An inflight loss of control due to a disconnected elevator control surface and an improper preflight inspection of the flight controls by the glider pilot.
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 was observed to pitch nose up about 40 to 50 degrees shortly after lift off and climb at this angle to about 200 feet AGL. The tow rope was released and the glider turned right and descended into the ground. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the elevator controls were not connected.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6135
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-12
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 12009
- Airframe hours
- 744
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Frederik Daams
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 30, 1990 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- L71
- Airport
- L71 · California City Muni, runway 6, 2,000 × 150 ft, dirt
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 134 total · 2 in this make and model · 102 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 15 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N6135 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.