- Date
- October 20, 1991, 10:35 local (17:35 UTC)
- Place
- Fremont, CA
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N17886Schweizer SGS-2-33A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911020047009A
- Case key
- 27483
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 inadequate altitude on final approach.
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
According to the 206-hour glider pilot, he released from the tow airplane at 3,500 feet MSL and stayed near the departure airport. After descending to 1,000 feet the pilot entered the landing traffic pattern. The turn onto the base and final approach legs appeared normal. On short final approach the glider's rate of descent rapidly increased, and the glider collided with the roof of a building. The pilot reported that the surface wind was between 9 and 10 mph, and the wind was not gusty.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17886
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS-2-33A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 256
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Fremont Sky Sailing
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Airport
- 8Q7 · Sky Sailing, runway 28, 1,840 × 30 ft, dirt
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Flight hours
- 206 total · 184 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 22° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.