- Date
- October 20, 1996, 13:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Los Alamitos, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N65844Schweizer 2-33-A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 18, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19961020041649A
- Case key
- 29670
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 student pilot's failure to properly handle the glider, and the instructor pilot's inadequate supervision.
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
During the final approach, the student pilot was having difficulty controlling the glider and was not aligned with the runway. The glider got low and slow before the instructor pilot took over the controls. The pilot landed short of the runway and the aircraft collided with an object protruding from the ground that damaged the spar.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 1996, at 1320 hours Pacific daylight time, a Schweizer 2-33-A glider, N65844, collided with the terrain short of dirt runway 22R at the Armed Forces Reserve Center located in Los Alamitos, California. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the certified instructor pilot and his dual student were not injured. The flight departed at 1300 for a local instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time with the winds reported from 220 degrees at 13 knots.
According to the pilot, the student let the glider get out of position during the final approach for landing. The student was having a hard time coordinating the controls and the aircraft became low and slow. The instructor took over and landed the glider in a field short of the runway. The left wing collided with a pipe protruding from the ground and bent the spar. The instructor stated there were no mechanical problems with the glider prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N65844
- Reported as
- Schweizer 2-33-A
- Category
- Glider
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- SLI
- Airport
- SLI · Los Alamitos Reserve Cent, runway 22R, 1,300 × 100 ft, dirt
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 411 total · 180 in this make and model · 319 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
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 N65844 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.