- Date
- September 26, 1991, 12:55 local (19:55 UTC)
- Place
- Fremont, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4113GBurkhart Grob G103
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910926043119A
- Case key
- 27370
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 failed to adequately compensate for the prevailing wind conditions.
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 stated the accident occurred on final approach to the airport. He stated he made a normal pattern entry and turned base at the standard 45 degree point. On base, he opened the spoilers about 20%. As he turned final and lined up with the runway, he said he could see that his glide slope would take him beyond the white line, and was expecting to add more spoilers as he got closer. This changed abruptly, as he was caught in a downwash caused by buildings on the approach path. Closing the dive brakes was of little help. Realizing he could not make the altitude back, he turned approximately 180 degrees to the right and landed in a small rough field. During the landing, the right wing caught and the sailplane groundlooped.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4113G
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G103
- Category
- Glider
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sky Soaring
- Registered owner
- Sky Soaring
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- 4CA7 · Sky Soaring, runway 28, 1,900 × 200 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
- 74
- Certificate
- Private
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 25 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.