- Date
- August 9, 2024, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Minden, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N125CCBurkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- 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
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240809009359A
- Case key
- 194914
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 a subsequent collision with an obstacle during an off-field 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 glider was launched by aerotow and released about 5 miles from the departure airport. After climbing to about 10,400 ft msl, the pilot flew the glider towards an adjacent peak, however while enroute the glider encountered sink and descended. Rather than fly back towards the sinking air, the pilot began to track towards another peak in anticipation of finding lifting air, in an area where he had been successful in the past. However, the glider continued to descend so he turned back towards the departure airport. The headwinds were significant, and by the time the glider had sunk to 1,000 ft above ground level, the airport was no longer in site, so he elected to perform an off-field landing on a dirt road. During the landing roll the left wing struck a raised rock, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N125CC
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3710
- Built
- 1982
- Airframe hours
- 4,216.3
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Silverado Soaring Inc
- Registered owner
- Silverado Soaring Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Other
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 23, 2024 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- MEV · Minden, NV
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- MEV · Minden-Tahoe
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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 2, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 112 total · 30 in this make and model · 51 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 44 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KMEV, 6 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KMEV 091955Z AUTO 31006KT 10SM CLR 33/03 A3010 RMK AO2=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 27, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.2 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.