- Date
- June 19, 2022, 17:30 local (Jun 20, 2022, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tahoe Vista, CA · landed on Lake Tahoe
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N536LSRolladen-Schneider LS-6
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20220619023059A
- Case key
- 105343
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 and subsequent water ditching.
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 glider pilot reported that, during an early afternoon flight, the glider began to encounter a sink rate. The pilot attempted to find thermals in the area, without success, and decided to return to the departure airport. As the glider continued to lose altitude, the pilot elected to ditch in a lake. The glider landed flat in the water and decelerated rapidly, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N536LS
- Reported as
- Rolladen-Schneider LS-6
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 6329
- Built
- 1994
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 19, 2022 · 1,825 hours before
- Departed
- TRK · Truckee, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- TRK · Truckee-Tahoe
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- January 10, 2021
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 510 total · 50 in this make and model · 450 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KTRK, 7 nm away
- METAR
- KTRK 200045Z 27010KT 10SM 16/02 A3017
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 30, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.4 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.