- Date
- October 18, 1997, 12:05 local (19:05 UTC)
- Place
- Peoria, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7583Schweizer 126-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 15, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971018031459A
- Case key
- 29981
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 maintain an adequate clearance from obstacles during the landing approach.
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 was participating in a spot landing contest at the glider strip. The area for the landing spot competition was between the runways and was marked by two sets of traffic cones; the competing gliders had to land and stop between the cone sets. The pilot noted that bushes/small scrub trees occupied the area prior to the cones. As the glider passed through 10 feet agl nearing touchdown, the right wing contacted a large bush.
Factual narrative
On October 18, 1997, at 1205 hours mountain standard time, a Schwiezer 126-D glider, N7583, collided with a bush on short final approach for landing at the Turf Soaring School dirt airstrip, Peoria, Arizona. The glider sustained substantial damage, and the private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The aircraft was operated by Turf Soaring School and rented by the pilot for use in a spot landing competition under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
According to the pilot's statement, the area for the spot landing competition was between the runways and was marked by two sets of traffic cones; the competing gliders had to land and stop between the cone sets. The pilot noted that bushes/small scrub trees occupied the area prior to the cones. As the glider passed through 10 feet agl nearing touchdown, the right wing contacted a large bush.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7583
- Reported as
- Schweizer 126-D
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 475
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Turf Soaring School
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- Turf Soaring School
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 120 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DVT, 12 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.