- Date
- July 30, 1990, 13:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sierraville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9646ZLeffler/Mcfarlane LM-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900730029199A
- Case key
- 26589
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
Pilot's failure to see and avoid a tree during his landing approach.
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 pilot of a glider was unable to find any lift generation and elected to land in a meadow. During the approach his right wing collided with a tree and pitched down. The glider collided with the ground and was destroyed. The pilot reported no flight control problems prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9646Z
- Reported as
- Leffler/Mcfarlane LM-1
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- LM-1
- Airframe hours
- 400
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William C. Meyer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- TRK · Truckee, CA
- Destination
- TRK
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
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 3,200 total · 400 in this make and model · 2,600 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °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 N9646Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.