- Date
- April 7, 1991, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Cobb, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N81PTSchempp-Hirth Ventus B/16.6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910407008989A
- Case key
- 27163
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
That the pilot's visual lookout was improper. Contributing to this accident was the unmarked transmission wire.
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
After the aero tow released the pilot soared to Mt. St. Helena and then onto Cobb mountain where thermal lift was reported. Upon arriving over Cobb mountain he did not encounter any thermal lift. Realizing a forced landing was imminent the pilot selected a off-field landing area which was surrounded on three sides. The pilot reported that the northwest side of the field was unobstructed except for a small wire fence which posed no problem for the off-field landing. The pilot failed to see a small transmission wire which crossed the final approach course about 25 feet above ground level. The glider struck the wire which caused the glider to nose down about 40 degrees and strike the ground in a wings level attitude.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81PT
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth Ventus B/16.6 (VENTUS B/1)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 258
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Richard Carter
- Registered owner
- Richard Carter
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- Vacaville, CA
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
- 66
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 23,125 total · 355 in this make and model · 17,055 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- 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.