- Date
- March 14, 1996, 11:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Minden, NV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N851BGBurkhart Grob G102
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960314024569A
- Case key
- 29390
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 misjudgment of distance and altitude from the airport, which resulted in an off-airport forced landing.
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 reported that he received a weather briefing which indicated the possibility of ridge lift. Following a normal takeoff and climb, he released from the tow plane, when the glider was at about 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl), 4 miles from the 4,718 foot msl airport, and 2 miles from the ridge. The pilot further reported that he encountered some ridge lift, but experienced a fairly substantial sink rate by the time he had descended to 6,200 feet msl. The rate of sink increased, and he realized that he was not high enough to return to the airport. The pilot made a forced landing in a soft, muddy dirt field, about 0.25 mile from the airport. During rollout, the glider collided with a dirt berm.
Factual narrative
On March 14, 1996, at 1100 hours Pacific standard time, a Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau, G102 Club Astir IIIB, N851BG, collided with a berm while making an off-airport landing during a personal flight from the Douglas County Airport, Minden, Nevada. The glider was substantially damaged, and the airline transport pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed. The flight originated from Minden at 1020.
The pilot reported that he received a weather briefing which indicated the possibility of ridge lift. Following what he described as a normal takeoff and climb, the pilot released from the tow plane when he was at 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl), about 4 miles from the 4,718 foot msl airport, and 2 miles from the ridge.
The pilot further reported that he encountered some ridge lift, but descended to 6,200 feet msl. Then, a fairly substantial sink rate was experienced and he realized that he was not high enough to return to the airport. The pilot made a forced landing in a soft, muddy dirt field, about 0.25 miles from the airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N851BG
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G102
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 5639CB
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Soar Minden
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1995
- Departed
- MEV
- Airport
- MEV · Douglas County
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
- 37
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,375 total · 6 in this make and model · 2,450 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 7 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.
Other investigations on N851BG · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.