- Date
- August 31, 1991, 15:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mojave, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N901DHSchempp-Hirth VENTUS-B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910831037429A
- Case key
- 27345
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 glider pilot's inadequate altitude to clear terrain. Factors which related to the pilot being low could not be established because the pilot had no memory of the accident, and no witnesses were identified who observed the glider other than during its final few seconds of flight.
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
While participating in a glider contest, the pilot traveled for 17 nautical miles and reached the first turn point in the specified triangular course. The glider pilot was low, and the pilot attempted to land at a nearby airstrip. Witnesses reported observing the glider flying downwind at 50 to 100 feet above the ground. When the glider turned toward the approach end of the runway it lost altitude and collided with a dirt berm on the edge of the runway. The description of the glider's flight path was based upon witness statements. The pilot had no memory of the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N901DH
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 151
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hutchinson Family Trust
- Registered owner
- Hutchinson Family Trust
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- L71 · California City, CA
- Airport
- 77L · Kelso Valley Ranch, runway 18, 3,000 × 50 ft, gravel
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 1,044 total · 1,037 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 115 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.