Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Central Colorado Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buena Vista, Colorado 81211
Sunday, June 11, 2006 15:34 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had been soaring for about 4 hours when he decided to return to the airport. The AWOS (automated weather observation system) had been indicating that the wind was generally from the south-southeast at 10 to 18 knots. As the pilot got closer to the airport, AWOS indicated the wind was from 240 degrees and greater than 20 knots, then 250 degrees at 20 knots. When the pilot had descended to 700 feet agl (above ground level), he encountered a "strong sink." He said that he lost 400 feet in 12 seconds (2,000 fpm descent) and there was a barn, aircraft, and vehicles in his flight path. He decided to make a 180-degree turn in an attempt to land in a field west of the airport. The pilot rolled out of the turn at 30 feet agl. At 15 feet agl, the glider stalled and landed hard on rough, uneven terrain. The landing gear was torn off and the fuselage was buckled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in an inadvertent stall/mush. Contributing to the accident was the downdraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/11/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1534 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Buena Vista |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81211 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384848N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1060702W |
| Event Location Airport | Central Colorado Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 7V1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 7946 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1529 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.56 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20324 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 11 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver FAA Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48CW |
| NTSB Number | DEN06CA086 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Rolladen-Schneider Gmbh |
| Aircraft Model | LS-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3196 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 846 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1126 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | On File |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salida |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81201 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 7V1 |
| Departure City | BUENA VISTA |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1106 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 7V1 |
| Destination City | Buena Vista |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2006 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |