- Date
- June 22, 2022, 15:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Chelan, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N767SSDG Flugzeugbau DG 1000S
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of lift
- 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
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220622010889A
- Case key
- 105314
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 atmospheric conditions where the lift was not sufficient to maintain flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to overfly a suitable landing site which resulted in an off-field landing in a lake.
Findings · 3
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 reported he was soaring when he penetrated two areas of “heavy sink” before reaching the final wave lift of the flight that took him to 16,500 ft. When he left the wave lift the glider began to sink and he quickly focused on regaining lift and did not think about the final glide back to the departure airport. The pilot subsequently overflew a suitable alternative airport as he continued to search for lift while the glider continued to sink at about 1,000 ft per minute. The pilot eventually maneuvered into a position where his best option was to land in a lake when he could not find sufficient lift or return to an airport. Both wings were substantially damaged when the pilot landed in the lake. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
On June 22, 2022, about 1515 Pacific daylight time, a DG FLUGZEUGBAU GMBH sailplane, N5532P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lake Chelan, Washington. The pilot was not injured. The sailplane was as operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported he was soaring when he penetrated two areas of “heavy sink” before reaching the final wave lift of the flight that took him to 16,500 ft. When he left the wave lift the glider began to sink and he quickly focused on regaining lift and did not think about the final glide back to the departure airport. The pilot subsequently overflew a suitable alternative airport as he continued to search for lift while the glider continued to sink at about 1,000 ft per minute. The pilot eventually maneuvered into a position where his best option was to land in a lake when he could not find sufficient lift or return to an airport. Both wings were substantially damaged when the pilot landed in the lake. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N767SS
- Reported as
- DG Flugzeugbau DG 1000S
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 1037S36
- Built
- 2003
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sgc Soaring Foundation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Unknown
- Departed
- S52 · Methow, WA
- Airport
- None
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
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,477 total · 35 in this make and model · 1,340 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 20 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KEAT, 36 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KEAT 222155Z AUTO 33009G18KT 10SM SCT080 27/08 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP132 T02720083=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 2, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.3 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.