- Date
- November 17, 2021, 16:00 local (Nov 18, 2021, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Carlsbad, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N44DYPhoenix Air U-15 Phoenix
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 104275
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 distance with an airport sign while taxiing.
Findings · 2
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
The pilot in the tailwheel equipped glider reported that, after landing, he taxied off the runway onto a ramp area. A business jet was being towed by a tug on the taxiway he normally used to get to his hangar. The ground controller issued the pilot instructions to pass by the jet and turn right. The tail-low configuration of the glider made the pilot’s visibility limited while taxiing. During the turn, the glider’s right wing collided with an airport sign, substantially damaging the composite structure. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44DY
- Reported as
- Phoenix Air U-15 Phoenix
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 02
- Built
- 2010
- Airframe hours
- 1,207
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS SERIES, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2021
- Departed
- F70 · Murietta, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CRQ · Mc Clellan-Palomar, runway 24, 4,897 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- October 19, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 4,202 total · 942 in this make and model · 4,202 as pilot in command · 105 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KCRQ
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 20, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.6 MB in all.