- Date
- July 12, 1992, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ephrata, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N382WBerkshire Mfg. Concept 70
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 9, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920712025049A
- Case key
- 42852
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Inadequate in-flight planning/decision. Factors to the accident were: no thermal lift and rough/uneven terrain.
Analysis
During a local flight, shortly after disconnect from the tow plane, the pilot realized that there was insufficient thermal lift in the area. The flight was returning to the airport when the pilot realized that he was too FAR out and too low to make it to the airport. The pilot then initiated a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the glider collided with the terrain.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N382W
- Reported as
- Berkshire Mfg. Concept 70
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 15
- Airframe hours
- 1,274
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jones, James P.
- Registered owner
- Jones, James P.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1992 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- EPH · Ephrata, WA
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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 62 total · 16 in this make and model · 31 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.