- Date
- July 9, 1992, 13:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Warner Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3705Whigham GW-4
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920709024529A
- Case key
- 27682
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 preflight planning and preparation. Contributing to this accident was the downdrafts and mountainous terrain.
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 flying over mountainous terrain, 7 miles north of the gliderport, the glider flight encountered strong down drafts. The pilot immediately returned towards the gliderport, but encountered stronger downdrafts and was unable to clear the ridge. There is no record that the pilot obtained a weather briefing before departing on the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3705
- Reported as
- Whigham GW-4
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 505
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Waters, John B.
- Registered owner
- Waters, John B.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 1992 · 21 hours before
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 267 total · 148 in this make and model · 22 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3705 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.