- Date
- August 17, 1993, 15:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Truckee, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N205ASPilatus B4-PC11AF
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report August 1, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930817029609A
- Case key
- 28451
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
Failure of the pilot to conduct adequate preflight checks which resulted in the glider taking off with a frayed release hook cable, the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed, and the inadvertent stall.
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 discover a frayed tow release cable during the preflight check. The cable was binding when the pilot attempted to abort his takeoff. The pilot inadvertently stalled the glider and impacted the runway surface in a nose down, right wing low attitude.
Factual narrative
On August 17, 1993, at 1515 hours Pacific daylight time, a Pilatus B4-PC11AF glider, N205AS, collided with the runway surface at the Truckee Tahoe Airport, Truckee, California, after experiencing an inflight loss of control during an aero tow. The pilot was beginning a local visual flight rules personal flight. The glider, operated by Ames Soaring Club, Livermore, California, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The glider was being towed behind an airplane. Witnesses observed some erratic movement by the glider, followed by a tow line release by the glider. The pilot tried to make a 180 degree turn back to the runway. The glider then lost control and collided with the runway in a nose down, right wing low attitude.
The glider was transported to J.J. Glider Repair, Placerville California, for examination. The tow release cable was inspected by the FAA Aviation Safety Inspector from the Reno Flight Standards District Office. The inspector reported he found that the cable was frayed and 50 percent of the strands were broken where the cable exits the instrument panel. He stated that the frayed and broken strands allowed the cable to bind in the housing which prevented complete locking of the tow hook.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N205AS
- Reported as
- Pilatus B4-PC11AF
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 264
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ames Soaring Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- TRK
- Destination
- TRK
- Airport
- TRK · Truckee-Tahoe, runway 19, 4,650 × 75 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 42 total · 14 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dawn
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TRK, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.