- Date
- August 3, 1991, 17:00 local (Aug 4, 1991, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sutcliffe, NV
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N65932Schweizer SGS 126E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910803031589A
- Case key
- 27317
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 inadvertent stall of the glider.
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 certificated commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was participating in a glider competition when the loss of thermal lift necessitated an off airport landing. The pilot overshot his intended landing point on a road and began a maneuvering turn to again line up on the road. During the turn, the pilot stalled the glider about 75 feet above the ground, descending in about a 60 degree nose down attitude and rotating clockwise about its vertical axis. The glider struck the ground, crushing the nose and outboard portion of the right wing. The glider was substantially damaged and the pilot received serious injuries.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65932
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 126E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 572
- Airframe hours
- 2,373
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nevada Soaring Assoc., Inc.
- Registered owner
- Nevada Soaring Assoc., Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 26, 1991 · 62 hours before
- Departed
- NV23 · Sparks, NV
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
- 58
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 8,500 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 56 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO, 25 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.