Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Truckee, California 96160
Monday, August 28, 1995 16:48 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY TERMINATES IN A STEEP BLUFF WITH A 175-FOOT DROP OFF AT A 70-DEGREE ANGLE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO BE LOW ON THE BASE-TO-FINAL TURN. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE WAS 700 FEET HIGHER IN THE PATTERN TO COMPENSATE FOR THE TURBULENCE HE EXPECTED. HE EXTENDED THE SPOILERS AND THEN RETRACTED THEM, AND THEN LOWERED THE NOSE IN AN EFFORT TO INCREASE AIRSPEED. ON FINAL, THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDED BELOW THE TERRAIN AT THE APPROACH END OF THE RUNWAY AND CRASHED INTO THE BLUFF. THE PILOT SAID THAT WHILE IN THE TURN THE AIRSPEED DID NOT INCREASE AS EXPECTED AND HE WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE RUNWAY WHEN THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT. THE PREVAILING WINDS WERE CAUSING TURBULENCE AND DOWNDRAFTS AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY WAS CONFIRMED BY THE FAA. THE PILOT HAD BEEN BRIEFED ON THE WIND CONDITIONS AND SAID HE HAD EXPERIENCED THEM PREVIOUSLY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot misjudged his planned approach by selecting a touchdown point close to the runway's approach end that did not provide sufficient clearance to safely maneuver when forcast turbulence and downdrafts were encountered. The pilot's early extension of spoilers was a factor in this accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1648 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TRUCKEE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96160 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRUCKEE-TAHOE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5900 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1645 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5900 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 24 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1129 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1845 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N300HX |
| NTSB Number | LAX95LA311 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Elan Glaser Dirks |
| Aircraft Model | DG-300 ELAN |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DG-300 ELA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3E-117 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 15 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EBERHARD LEMCKE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1973 PLACER DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN LEANDRO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94578 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TRK |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 4650 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |