Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Truckee, California 95734
Friday, September 20, 1996 15:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Aero Commander 690, N840DC, collided with the Grob 102 glider, N22ZB, while climbing through 10,000 feet msl 4 miles south of the airport. The Aero Commander pilot had announced his departure on runway 28 on the unicom frequency of 122.8 Mhz while taxiing. After departing, the pilot turned left and was heading southeast in a climb. The glider had departed the airport about 1 hour earlier via aero tow and was orbiting left in a thermal. The glider pilot was monitoring the frequency 123.3 Mhz, an air-to-air frequency used by glider pilots. Moments before the collision, the Aero Commander pilot was tuning a navigation radio. He looked up and saw the glider in his windshield, but was unable to avoid the collision. The glider pilot never saw the Aero Commander. The left wing of the Aero Commander struck the left wing and fuselage of the glider about 9,800 feet msl. Both pilots were able to safely land their airplanes at the Truckee Airport after the collision.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate visual lookout by both pilots while in the vicinity of the airport. A factor was that each aircraft was on a different frequency at the time.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | TRUCKEE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95734 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRUCKEE-TAHOE AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5900 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1727 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 20 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1610 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:22AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N840DC | N22ZB |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA343A | LAX96LA343B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aero Commander | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | 690 | 102 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 690 | 102 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11661 | 1309 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10375 | 836 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 10 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 2 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 19 1996 12:00AM | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3687 | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DEMPSEY CONSTRUCTION | SEBALD, LESLIE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1291 | 334 OAKVIEW DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | KETCHUM | SAN CARLOS |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83340 | 94070 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | SOAR TRUCKEE | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 2657 | |
| Operator City | TRUCKEE | |
| Operator State | CA | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 96160 | |
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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) | Business | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | TRK | TRK |
| Departure City | TRUCKEE | |
| Departure State | CA | |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 1515 | 1410 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MMH | |
| Destination City | MAMMOTH LAKES | |
| Destination State | CA | |
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 7000 | -- |
| Runway Width | 100 | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |