Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Plains Gliderport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Plains, Oregon 97133
Wednesday, June 10, 1998 18:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot-in-command (PIC) reported that he 'failed to maintain proper control of the aircraft, deviated from an acceptable track down a grass runway (270) and contacted a pole with the left wing' while he 'was in the process of turning out to avoid another object.' Conditions at the time were calm winds, with heavily overcast gray skies with light precipitation. After a comment from his passenger the PIC saw the bright white golf cart and began to maneuver away from it. The PIC's 'first reaction on feeling the contact with the pole was disbelief, because I knew I could not have struck the cart, and the pole simply hadn't registered in my mind at all.' Neither the PIC nor passenger ever saw the pole which was ordinarily marked with bright yellow parachute extending out and centered around the pole. With the parachute having been removed, the PIC's expectation of the pole's usual vivid (yellow) image was different from reality and he had no incentive to execute any corrective action. Additionally, the gliderport grass runway had no markings delineating its boundary nor did it have any centerline marking to guide the PIC in maintaining directional control.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control and his failure to maintain clearance from a pole. Contributing factors were rain and an overcast which resulted in less than optimal conditions to detect the pole.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/10/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | NORTH PLAINS |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97133 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NORTH PLAINS GLIDERPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 1OR4 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 210 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 124 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HIO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 204 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 263 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 11 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N65918 |
| NTSB Number | SEA98LA094 |
| 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 | SGS 2-33A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SGS 2-33A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 358 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1040 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 3320 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLAMETTE VALLEY SOARING CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3325 LAVINA DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | FOREST GROVE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97116 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EMANUEL, JOEL, H. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 410 PROVINCE DRIVE |
| Operator City | CAMAS |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 98607 |
| 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 | 1OR4 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| 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 | Landing |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |