- Date
- March 31, 1990, 14:35 local (22:35 UTC)
- Place
- Byron, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3837JBurkhart Grob 103
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900331007411A
- Case key
- 26764
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
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout for objects along the landing runway.
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 the glider entered a right traffic pattern for landing. After the right turn to the final approach the pilot entered a 'slip' to accelerate the descent. When the glider entered the flare phase of landing, the left wing struck the engine cowling of a tow aircraft parked to the left of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3837J
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob 103
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3762
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ames Soaring Club, Inc
- Departed
- 4Q5
- Airport
- 4Q5 · Byron, runway 22, 2,800 × 30 ft, asphalt
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 11 in this make and model · 108 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.