- Date
- July 23, 1997, 17:00 local (Jul 24, 1997, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Minden, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N125DDSchempp-Hirth DUO Discus
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 29856
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 ensure that the wings were maintained at a lateral level attitude during the initial landing rollout. A factor in the accident was the rough, uneven nature of the terrain chosen for the 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 stated that on rollout from the off-field landing the right wing tip contacted the ground, and the glider turned sideways before coming to a stop. A fracture was found on the aft part of the fuselage which went completely around the structure.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 1997, at 1700 hours Pacific daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbaugh Duo Discus, N125DD, made an off field landing, contacted the ground with the right wing tip, and slid sideways before coming to a stop near Minden, Nevada. The glider, owned by DDG, INC., sustained substantial damage. The pilot and pilot rated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the local personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from the Douglas County Airport, Minden, at 1300.
In a telephone interview conducted on July 29, 1997, the pilot stated that on rollout from the off field landing the right wing tip contacted the ground and the glider turned sideways before coming to a stop. A fracture was found on the aft fuselage which went completely around the structure.
In his written report dated August 4, 1997, the pilot said that the landing gear control handle came out of it's detent during the landing roll, causing the landing gear to retract.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N125DD
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth DUO Discus
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 103
- Airframe hours
- 170
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David C. Campbell
- Registered owner
- Ddg, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 20, 1996 · 170 hours before
- Departed
- MEV
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,653 total · 67 in this make and model · 1,406 as pilot in command · 52 in the last 90 days · 35 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F