- Date
- December 28, 2011, 12:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Murrieta, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8641RSchweizer SGS 1-26B
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of lift
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 27, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20111228029819A
- Case key
- 82590
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 glider's encounter with insufficient atmospheric lift to maintain soaring flight.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
During a solo instructional glider flight, the student pilot released from the tow airplane at a planned altitude of 4,250 feet mean sea level. Upon the release, the student pilot was not able to locate any up-currents, and the sink rates the glider encountered varied between 200 to 600 feet per minute. The pilot stated that there was insufficient lift to clear the ridge safely and glide back to the airport, so he selected two open fields for a possible off-field landing. The pilot stated that, on final approach to the field, he observed signs between the glider’s current position and the intended landing site that he had not seen during his fly-by inspection. He maneuvered around the obstructions and decided to land on a road. The glider landed on the road, and the right wing collided with a previously unseen mailbox post, which resulted in substantial damage to the wing.
Factual narrative
During a solo instructional glider flight, the student pilot released from the tow airplane at a planned altitude of 4,250 feet mean sea level (msl). Upon the release, the pilot was not able to locate any up-currents, and the sink rates the glider encountered varied between 200 to 600 feet per minute. The pilot stated that his plan was to try and gain altitude, cross a ridge, and drop back down into the valley and glide back to the airport. However, there was insufficient lift to clear the ridge safely, so he selected two open fields for a possible off-field landing. The pilot stated that on final approach to the field, he observed some signs between the glider’s current position and the intended landing site that he had not seen during his fly-by inspection. He maneuvered around the obstructions and decided to land on a road, which was his second landing site. The glider landed on the road, and the right wing collided with a previously unseen mailbox post, which caused substantial damage to the wing. The glider spun in a clockwise direction and hit trash cans before coming to rest in a shallow ditch.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8641R
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-26B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 184
- Airframe hours
- 2,250
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Lake Elsinore Soaring Club
- Registered owner
- Lake Elsinore Soaring Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 4, 2011
- Departed
- CA89 · Lake Elsinore, CA
- Destination
- CA89 · Lake Elsinore, CA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 165 total · 3 in this make and model · 102 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 14 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KRIV, 18 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 27, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.4 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.