- Date
- September 26, 1992, 13:31 local (20:31 UTC)
- Place
- Middletown, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N789ESchleicher ASW-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920926038809A
- Case key
- 27774
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 failure to connect the elevator control during assembly and failure to perform an adequate aircraft preflight check. Contributing to the accident was the pilots distraction by performing other tasks during the assembly procedure.
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 failed to connect the elevator control mechanism during assembly and was distracted by performing other tasks. The pilot did not perform a positive flight control check prior to takeoff. After takeoff the pilot reported he had no elevator control, lost aircraft control, and descended into the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N789E
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-20
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20492
- Airframe hours
- 917
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David C. Petersen
- Registered owner
- David C. Petersen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 5, 1992
- Departed
- CA20 · Middletown, CA
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Center
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 241 total · 66 in this make and model · 211 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- 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.