- Date
- March 23, 1996, 13:48 local (21:48 UTC)
- Place
- Hollister, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4HTEiriavion PIK 20D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 20, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960323005009A
- Case key
- 29397
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 improper in-flight decision to take a longer than necessary route back to the airport during a period of marginal lift.
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 pilot, after an aerial tow aloft he soared in thermals above nearby ridges as he flew toward the San Luis Reservoir. As the thermals began to dissipate he turned back toward Hollister and took what he described as the long route to [the airport]. The lack of available lift precluded making the airport and he landed in an open field. As the right wing dropped, the tip snagged in a large gopher hole and the aircraft ground looped, damaging the wing and empennage.
Factual narrative
On March 23, 1996, at 1348 hours Pacific standard time, a Eiriavion Oy PIK 20D glider, N4HT, drug a wing and ground looped while making a forced landing in an open field near Hollister, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot and was on a local personal soaring flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and the private pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Hollister about 1230.
According to the pilot, after an aerial tow aloft he soared in thermals above nearby ridges as he flew toward the San Luis Reservoir. As the thermals began to dissipate he turned back toward Hollister and took what he described as "the long route to [the airport]." The lack of available lift precluded making the airport and he landed in an open field. As the right wing dropped, the tip snagged in a large gopher hole and the aircraft ground looped, damaging the wing and empennage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4HT
- Reported as
- Eiriavion PIK 20D
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20637
- Airframe hours
- 804
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Armand A. Medeiros
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 20, 1995 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- 307 · 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 121 total · 17 in this make and model · 58 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 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.