- Date
- July 5, 2026, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Elsinore, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5790SSchweizer SGS 2-33A
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 8, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260705007609A
- Case key
- 203336
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 student pilot’s failure to maintain a proper glidepath, which resulted in a long landing and collision with a person on the ground.
Findings · 4
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 student pilot reported that he extended the downwind leg to accommodate a departing tow airplane. During the subsequent approach, the glider was high. The pilot did not use the dive brakes to reduce altitude and attempted a forward slip; however, the glider remained high and fast throughout the approach. As a result, the glider touched down near the end and right side of the runway. During the subsequent landing rollout, the right wing struck a person on the ground, which resulted in serious injury. The glider then ground looped and sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5790S
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 2-33A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 117
- Built
- 1968
- Airframe hours
- 5,651.6
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lake Elsinore Soaring Club
- Registered owner
- Lake Elsinore Soaring Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 6, 2026
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CA89 · Skylark Airport, runway 11R, 2,701 × 90 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- None
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
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 123.9 total · 23.9 in this make and model · 6.3 in the last 90 days · 3.9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KHMT, 15 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KHMT 051835Z AUTO 10SM CLR 31/11 A3000 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 8, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.
Other investigations on N5790S · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.