Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mokuleia, Hawaii 96791
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 13:00 HST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During a for-hire sightseeing flight, the glider entered an inadvertent stall and spun to ground impact. The flight was conducted in an area where normal wind conditions brought trade winds that produced strong updrafts when they encountered the accident site ridgeline. On the day of the accident, the winds were described as shifty and gusting and they did not produce the updraft along the ridgeline that was most common in that area. In addition, the cloud bases would not allow for a tow greater than 2,000 feet. A witness (also a glider pilot), observed the accident glider eastbound about 400 to 500 feet above the ridge. She then noticed the glider "turn right (toward the ridge) and its nose come up slightly." The glider turned "approximately 45 degrees to the right, then turned back to the left and immediately entered a spin to the left." The witness reported that the glider rotated twice before it entered a second spin to the right. Post-accident examination of the glider revealed no anomalies that would have prevented its normal operation. A video recording of the flight revealed no anomalies with the glider. As captured during the final moments of an audio recording of the flight, the pilot's last transmission indicated that the glider was encountering a sink rate. According to the accident glider's flight manual, after spin entry, the pilot might experience one nose up and down oscillation before the stable spin occurs. The rotations are relatively slow with an altitude loss of approximately 300 feet per turn. Recovery technique was normal, except that considerably more control was needed to stop the rotation and to lower the nose. Instead of easing off back pressure on the stick, it must be pushed forward of neutral and instead of neutralizing the rudder, opposite rudder must be applied. The rotation could be stopped in 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Review of the pilot's training records and experience brought into serious question the quality of both. In less than 3 months after beginning flight training the pilot obtained his commercial pilot certificate, just 2 days after passing his private pilot check ride. Upon obtaining his commercial pilot certificate the pilot began conducting tour flights for fare-paying passengers; at this point his total flight experience amounted to 48.4 hours of flight time, of which 31.2 hours were as pilot-in-command. Review of the pilot's training records revealed he received stall/spin training on the same day he received training on a myriad of complex subjects. The operator said that when he conducted spin training with the pilot, on one occasion the pilot didn't get the control stick forward enough on a spin recovery and got into a secondary stall. The operator then had the pilot demonstrate two additional spin/spin recovery maneuvers. Federal Aviation Regulations indicated that an applicant may obtain their commercial glider certificate with as little as 25 hours of flight time and 100 flights as pilot-in-command. According to the Soaring Society of America and the Soaring Safety Foundation, it is unusual to obtain a commercial glider pilot certificate in as little time as the accident pilot, and it usually takes about 6 months to 1 year to obtain the required experience.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering during a scenic flight, which led to an inadvertent stall/spin and secondary stall/spin encounter. Contributing factors were the pilot's lack of total flight experience, his inadequate flight training, and the unfavorable wind conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/6/2005
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Hawaii Standard Time
Event City Mokuleia
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96791
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 213435N
Event Location Longitude 1581290W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1255 Hawaii Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 135
Weather Observation Facility ID HHI
Elevation of weather observation facility 837
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation HST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 2
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 19
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.15
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20971
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 6 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 26 2007 11:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Honolulu, HI FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N693U
NTSB Number LAX05LA131
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 Schweizer
Aircraft Model SGS 2-32
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18
Certified Max Gross Weight 1430
Aircraft Category Glider
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 3
Number of Engines 0
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jan 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 5692
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Sailplane Ride Adventures, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address Dillingham airfield Gate #2, Route #930
Aircraft Owner City Mokuleia
Aircraft Owner State HI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96791
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code HDH
Departure City Mokuleia
Departure State HI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1243
Departure Time Zone HST
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? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 28 2006 5:24PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight Yes
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --