Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Williams Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Williams, California 95987
Sunday, February 22, 1998 17:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that there was a drilling rig parked approximately 30 to 40 feet from the end of the runway and he was aware of the location of the rig before takeoff. He further stated that he usually placed a wooden wedge behind the landing gear handle to secure it in place before landing, but while on final he noticed that he had not yet secured it. While he attempted to secure it in place, he noticed that the aircraft had a very great rate of descent. He then 'concentrated in controlling the direction of the aircraft to land properly on the runway, looking ahead and losing reference of the drilling rig.' The right wingtip then hit the upper portion of the rig and approximately 3 to 4 feet of the wing separated from the aircraft, and the nose of the glider hit the ground. The glider spun to the right approximately 180 degrees before coming to a complete stop.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from the oil drilling rig due to his attention being diverted inside the cockpit in order the secure the landing gear control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/22/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | WILLIAMS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95987 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WILLIAMS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | Q12 |
| 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 | 98 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 222 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N948B |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA092 |
| 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 | Schempp-Hirth |
| Aircraft Model | VENTUS-B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | VENTUS-B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 56 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1102 |
| 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 | Mar 15 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 121 |
| Airframe Hours | 990 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SERGIO COLACEVICH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4436 N. HAMPTON DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARMICHAEL |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95608 |
| 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 | Q12 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 25 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |