- Date
- July 19, 1991, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- West Arlington, VT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N333VTValentin GMB H Taifun 17E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 27, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910719028729A
- Case key
- 36764
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
Physiological incapacitation due to cardiovascular disease which resulted in incapacitation and inflight collision with trees.
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 powered glider was observed to make three circles and then disappear behind trees. A crash was heard and the wreckage was located in a wooded area. An autopsy revealed the pilot had cardiovascular disease, including, 'severe coronary atherosclerosis with thrombosis of bypass grafts.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N333VT
- Reported as
- Valentin GMB H Taifun 17E
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1051
- Airframe hours
- 230
- Engine
- Limbach L-2000-EBIB, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Orth, Robert H.
- Registered owner
- Orth, Robert H.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 15, 1991 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- 0B7 · Warren, VT
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
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,942 total · 61 in this make and model · 1,942 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 54 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.