- Date
- June 27, 2025, 13:08 local (20:08 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Barbara, CA ·
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N307BEAlexander Schleicher ASH 30 MI
- Defining event
- Taxi-from runway: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 14, 2026
- 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
- 20250627009149A
- Case key
- 200425
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 pilot’s failure to maintain taxiway centerline while taxiing off the runway which resulted in a left-wing strike with a runway direction sign.
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 pilot reported that he continued the rollout and maneuvered the 87-foot-wide glider onto the taxiway shortly after landing on a 75-foot-wide runway. Subsequently, the left wing struck a runway direction sign and sustained substantial damage. The pilot further reported that he should have stopped the glider completely on the runway and confirmed that he was centerline while maneuvering off the runway. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N307BE
- Reported as
- Alexander Schleicher ASH 30 MI
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 30007
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 674.27
- Engine
- Austro IAE-50R-AA, 50 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 14, 2024 · 16.04 hours before
- Departed
- KLPC · Lompoc, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SBA · Santa Barbara Muni, runway 15L, 4,180 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- May 3, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KSBA
- METAR
- KSBA 272005Z 16007KT 10SM HZ SCT012 BKN018 20/15 A2995 RMK AO2 T02000150 $
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 14, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.6 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.