- Date
- June 24, 2024, 11:55 local (17:55 UTC)
- Place
- Parowan, UT · Open field near airport
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N517PBAlexander Schleicher ASH 31 MI
- Defining event
- Enroute: 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
- Case key
- 194591
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.
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
The pilot of a powered glider reported that, after the engine had been shut down and the propeller stowed, he encountered more downdrafts?than expected. The glider did not have sufficient altitude to reach the airport or to re-deploy the engine. During the forced landing on rough terrain, a wing impacted vegetation and ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the powered glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N517PB
- Reported as
- Alexander Schleicher ASH 31 MI
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 31175
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 567
- Engine
- Austro Engine AE50R, 55 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ketcham James S and Barbara S Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 9, 2023
- Departed
- 1L9 · Parowan, UT
- Airport
- 1L9 · Parowan Airport, runway 04, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Data recorder, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 74
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 27, 2024
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 500 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- KCDC, 16 nm away
- METAR
- KCDC 241753Z AUTO 29009KT 10SM FEW100 32/07 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP113 T03220067 10328 20206 58006
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 8, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.2 MB in all.