Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Orland, California 95963
Friday, August 23, 2002 16:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The glider collided with a fence during a precautionary landing following a loss of lift. The glider encountered an "area of significant sink" during the return portion of the flight, so the pilot elected to land on a road instead of trying to fly back to his intended destination. During the rollout, the left wing caught a hidden post, which pulled the glider 90 degrees from its original direction of travel. A barbed wire fence went through the canopy, and cut the pilot. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the glider.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the loss of thermal lift during flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Orland
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95963
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 394500N
Event Location Longitude 1221000W
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 1649 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID CIC
Elevation of weather observation facility 238
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16345
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1720
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N422DT
NTSB Number LAX02LA261
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AB Sportine Aviacija
Aircraft Model Genesis 2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2017
Certified Max Gross Weight 1157
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 29 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 13
Airframe Hours 23
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald M. Biener
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Euless
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76039
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 --
Departure City MIDDLETOWN
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
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 Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 2 2004 3:52PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --