Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bishop, California 93514
Wednesday, August 12, 1992 13:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CERTIFICATED GLIDER PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, DEPARTED FOR A LOCAL AREA FLIGHT WITH LIFT CONDITIONS DESCRIBED AS WEAK TO MODERATE. THE WRECKAGE WAS LOCATED ABOUT 2 HOURS AFTER DEPARTURE IN AN AREA OF RUGGED MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. THE LEFT WING OF THE GLIDER STRUCK A ROCKY RIDGE AND CAME TO REST ABOUT 300 FEET BELOW THE RIDGE LINE. OTHER GLIDER PILOTS REPORTED THAT THE ACCIDENT PILOT HAD A PROCLIVITY TO FLY OVER MOUNTAINOUS AREAS AT LOW ALTITUDES. A TOXICOLOGICAL EXAMINATION DISCLOSED THE PRESENCE OF A CARDIAC ANTIARRHYTHMIC DRUG. THE QUANTITY OF DRUG FOUND IS CONSIDERED TO BE AT THERAPEUTIC LEVELS. ACCORDING TO A CAMI PHYSICIAN, THE DRUG, IN VIEW OF THE PILOT'S PREVIOUS MEDICAL HISTORY, DID NOT BY ITSELF, PRESENT A DISQUALIFYING CONDITION THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTED TO ADVERSELY AFFECT THE PILOT'S ABILITY TO PILOT A GLIDER.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S POOR INFLIGHT DECISION TO FLY OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AT AN INADEQUATE ALTITUDE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BISHOP |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93514 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1250 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4120 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 38 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| 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) | 30 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2998 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 47844 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7988 |
| NTSB Number | LAX92LA346 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SCHEMPP-HIRTH |
| Aircraft Model | CIRRUS |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | CIRRUS |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 101 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1014 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 3 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 49 |
| Airframe Hours | 294 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SHELDON, DAVID B. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT.2 BOX 306 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BISHOP |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93514 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SHELDON, DAVID B. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | RT.2 BOX 306 |
| Operator City | BISHOP |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93514 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BIH |
| Departure City | BISHOP |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| 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 10:35AM |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |