Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Douglas, Washington 98858
Friday, July 3, 1998 14:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the accident occurred while he was making an off-airport landing. He attempted to land next to a road in a plowed field. The terrain was rolling wheat fields, alternately plowed and in use. He stated that he was circling a house, looking for lift, when he made the decision to land. He widened his circle and flew north, parallel to the road. There was no indication of high winds, and he didn't have to crab the aircraft to correct his track over the ground. He stated that he turned toward the road and as he passed the mid-point of his turn to the intended final approach, he realized that he was being carried into the power wires on the far side of the road. He was at wire height and in about a 45 degree bank. He didn't think he could get over the wires and didn't want to increase bank angle, so he flew under the wires at about a 30 degree angle to the road. The right wingtip struck the pole, spinning the glider. He said the glider came to a stop, with its tail pointed 180 degrees from the direction of travel in the edge of a wheat field. He noted that within 30 minutes a thunderstorm came through the area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from objects on the ground. Factors include misjudgment of weather conditions (unfavorable winds).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | DOUGLAS |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98858 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | 1352 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 122 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MWH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1185 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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) | 1263 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 4 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N707NL |
| NTSB Number | SEA98LA155 |
| 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 | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | G102 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G102 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 990 |
| 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 14 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 1307 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BOEING EMPLOYEES SOARING CLUB |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 3707, MS 8L 35 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98124 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | EPH |
| Departure City | EPHRATA |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |