- Date
- July 25, 2024, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Fields, OR · Alvord Desert, lake bed
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1599Glasflugel Standard Libelle
- Defining event
- Landing: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- 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
- 20240725009469A
- Case key
- 194912
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 a gusting wind and downdraft conditions, which resulted in exceedance of the glider’s critical angle of attack, an aerodynamic stall, and a hard landing.
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 of the glider reported that desert storm fronts had been moving in and out of the area during her flight. When the wind increased, and the glider was unable to maintain or regain altitude due to an absence of thermal activity the pilot elected to land off airport between two approaching storms. The pilot lowered the nose to maintain airspeed; however, during the landing flare, the glider encountered a gusting wind and a downdraft, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall about 3-4 ft above the ground. The glider then landed hard, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1599
- Reported as
- Glasflugel Standard Libelle
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 24
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 1,924
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 24, 2024
- Departed
- N/A · Fields, OR
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- April 29, 2023
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 38 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 22 knots, gusting 31
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KREO, 24 nm away
- METAR
- KREO 252052Z AUTO 22022G31KT 37/03 A3005 RMK AO1 PK WND 26032
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 27, 2025, 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.