- Date
- August 7, 1994, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cannan, NH
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N245JDRolladen-Schneider LS-4A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940807020339A
- Case key
- 38815
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 airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall and inflight collision with terrain. Factors were a loss of lift and the pilot's in-flight decision to maneuver too close to the ridge.
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 pilot had just released from the tow plane. He started a left circling climb in a thermal. According to the pilot, after circling once, the lift changed suddenly. The glider sank abruptly. The pilot, in his attempt to avoid the ridge inadvertently stalled the aircraft. The aircraft descended and collided with trees. The pilot stated the accident could have been prevented had he not established the thermal circle so close to the ridge.
Factual narrative
On August 7, 1994 at 1400 eastern daylight time, N245JD, a Rolladen-Schnieder LS-4A glider, collided with trees on high terrain, in Franconia, New Hampshire. Visual meteorological conditions existed. The certificated commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The glider was substantially damaged. The departure point was Franconia. The flight was operated under 14 CFR Part 91.
Shortly after the pilot released from the towplane, he circled in a thermal southwest of the peak of Cannon Mountain. According to the pilot, "I started to thermal in a counter-clockwise circle. As I came around one rotation, the lift changed to sink abruptly." The pilot then lowered the nose of the aircraft and steepened the turn to avoid the ridge; however, the glider stalled, descended, and impacted trees on the ridge.
The pilot stated the accident could have been prevented had he not established the thermal circle so close to the ridge, causing him to be unable to adequately maneuver in (south west blowing) air.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N245JD
- Reported as
- Rolladen-Schneider LS-4A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 4329
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James L. Dwyer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 25, 1993 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- 1B5 · Franconia, NH
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
- 62
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,266 total · 994 in this make and model · 1,198 as pilot in command · 44 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 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 N245JD · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.