Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Warner Springs, California 92086
Friday, October 10, 1997 17:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The sailplane pilot departed on a 40-minute scenic flight. The sailplane was released from the airplane tow at 8,000 feet. According to passenger statements, they reached a height of 14,000 feet msl. They also stated that near the end of the flight time, the pilot descended through clouds. The sailplane collided with mountainous terrain about 6,000 feet msl. An ocean/atmosphere scientist glider pilot was flying the same area near the accident time. He stated that the day was dominated by powerful, yet rapidly changing lee wave systems, producing 10/20 knot updrafts and downdrafts in the coastal mountain ranges of the lower Southern California Bight. He stated that the lee wave structure is normally very steady and reliable. Based on about 1,800 hours of flying the wave, he believed that this unusual day was a 1 in 1,000 occurrence changing minute by minute. He stated that on three separate occasions, he encountered abrupt disintegration of a well ordered non-hydrostatic wave, which resulted in the immediate loss of 7,000 to 10,000 feet of altitude.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions after inadvertently encountering mountain wave and associated downdraft conditions. The obscuration and high/mountainous terrain were related factors.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/10/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | WARNER SPRINGS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92086 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1646 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CRQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 328 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1261 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 11 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N242DB |
| NTSB Number | LAX98FA007 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 2-32 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 2-32 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 42 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1430 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 12 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 42 |
| Airframe Hours | 6204 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BRETT WILLAT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 31930 HIGHWAY 79 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WARNER SPRINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92086 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CL35 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1625 |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |