Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Minden Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minden, Nevada 89423
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 13:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The glider drug a wing and ground looped during an off airport landing short of the airport. The CFI and student released the tow line at 8,500 feet in turbulent lift conditions. About 20 minutes into the flight, the tow pilot radioed from the ground that a snow squall was rapidly moving in from the north. The CFI had the student head toward the airport and they prepared for a straight-in approach to runway 34. The wind speed increased and the ceiling quickly lowered. The CFI took control when he determined that they would have to fly a lot faster to beat the storm. About 3 miles south of the field, he noted that the ceiling was descending rapidly enough that he would have to go below the glide slope in order to maintain cloud clearance. He descended with spoilers and told the student to prepare for an off airport landing in a farmer's field short of the airport. The CFI set up for landing. He had to turn and change his path at the last second when he noticed an irrigation sprinkler in his path. The right wing tip contacted the ground, and the glider ground looped during landing, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The pilot indicated that he had obtained an abbreviated weather brief via telephone and the internet. The weather at the nearest official reporting station, which was 28 nautical miles north of the accident site/departure airport, was similar for a 6-hour period up to an hour before the glider's departure. The weather reports noted 10 miles visibility; winds from the north about 14 knots; and ceilings above 14,000 feet. In the next 30 minutes, the weather deteriorated to 1-mile visibility in light snow; winds gusting 22 to 30 knots; and a 1,000-foot ceiling. In the next 10 minutes, the visibility dropped to 1/4 mile; 20 minutes later the visibility was 3/4 mile. Over the next hour, the weather improved to 10 miles visibility; winds 14 gusting to 22 knots; and overcast conditions at 6,000 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight's encounter with a low ceiling while on approach that necessatiated an off-airport precautionary landing on unsuitable terrain. Obstructions were a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Minden |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89423 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390001N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194504W |
| Event Location Airport | Minden |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MEV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4726 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21221 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federeal Aviation Administration Reno FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N794G |
| NTSB Number | LAX07CA066 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | G-103A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34007-K-240 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1279 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Soar Minden |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Soar Minden |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Minden |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MEV |
| Departure City | Minden |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Minden |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2007 6:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 7400 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |