- Date
- July 5, 1998, 13:35 local (20:35 UTC)
- Place
- Llano, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N6686Rolladen-Schneider LS-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 22, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980705015849A
- Case key
- 30138
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 failure of the pilot to attach the aileron quick disconnect fitting during assembly of the glider and his inadequate preflight inspection.
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 glider was towed aloft and witnesses observed the right wing oscillating. After release about 400 to 500 feet agl, the glider went into a right spiral and impacted the ground. The airport owner examined the glider after the accident and reported that the quick disconnect fitting for the right aileron was found disconnected. The pilot had reassembled the glider on the morning of the accident and did not perform a control continuity check prior to takeoff.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 1998, at 1335 hours Pacific daylight time, a Rolladen-Schneider LS-6 glider, N6686, collided with the ground during the takeoff initial climb at the Crystal Gliderport in Llano, California. The glider was destroyed and the pilot/owner, the sole occupant, suffered serious injuries. The local area personal flight was originating at the time of the accident and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
The airport owner observed the accident sequence and reported that on the initial takeoff roll, the right aileron and right wing were oscillating. He further reported that as the glider pilot rotated to about 10 feet agl, both wings appeared to be oscillating violently. Approximately 400 to 500 feet agl, the glider pilot released from the tow plane and went into a right spiral and impacted the ground. The airport owner opined that the glider pilot may not have released sooner because he may have attributed the oscillations to turbulence.
The airport owner reported that he examined the glider after the accident. He stated that the glider is equipped with quick disconnect fittings on the control system located in the wing center section that allow it to be disconnected and reconnected as the wings are removed or installed. The right aileron fitting was found disconnected.
The pilot reassembled the glider on the morning of the accident flight and witnesses did not see him perform a control continuity check prior to takeoff. The pilot does not remember the accident or the events leading up to it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6686
- Reported as
- Rolladen-Schneider LS-6
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 6002
- Airframe hours
- 904
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hannes Linke
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 19, 1998 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- LO1
- Airport
- LO1 · Crystal Gliderport, runway 25, 2,500 × 400 ft
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
- 58
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 4,186 total · 550 in this make and model · 9 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PMD, 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.