- Date
- May 23, 1990, 11:08 local (21:08 UTC)
- Place
- Waialua, HI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N15SHSchweizer SGS 1-26
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 23, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900523017089A
- Case key
- 26816
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 failure of the pilot to maintain an adequate clearance from clouds.
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 student pilot said that he was working the hill slopes in ridge lift when the glider was suddenly lifted into the clouds. The pilot said he tried to steer a northerly heading away from the hills but the glider only had basic instruments. The pilot said he descended out of the clouds and found himself less than 100 feet above a tree covered hill. The pilot said the glider collided with the tops of the trees and settled into the forest canopy.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15SH
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-26
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 076
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Soar Hawaii, Ltd.
- Registered owner
- Soar Hawaii, Ltd
- Departed
- HDH · Mokuleia, Oahu, HI
- Destination
- HDH
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Student
- Flight hours
- 51 total · 18 in this make and model · 33 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 65° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °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.