Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Benton, California 93512
Friday, August 10, 2007 14:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
"THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED MARCH 25, 2009."
The pilot departed in a 58-foot-wingspan single-seat motor glider for a round-robin cross-country flight. The intended flight path passed over steep, rugged, mountainous terrain, which had a maximum elevation of 14,100 feet. Four other gliders departed with the accident glider, and the four returned to their departure base about an hour later due to unfavorable winds out of the south and weak lift. The pilot was very experienced with the terrain and proceeded on. His last communication with the four returning gliders was that he was at 16,700 feet and he was headed for a major peak (13,700 feet) on his route of flight. Search and rescue activities were initiated when the pilot failed to return. Friends of the pilot located the missing glider two days later. The wreckage impact signatures, ground scars, and the debris field were consistent with the glider impacting the mountain in a nose-down vertical descent consistent with a spin. The recorded wind at a nearby weather station was from 180 degrees at 16 knots, gusting to 24 knots. The mountain peak and gorge type topographic features within 1.5 miles directly upwind from the accident site could easily have generated mountain wave and turbulent conditions in the area of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering and the inadvertent entry into a stall/spin. Contributing to the accident were the mountainous terrain conditions, unfavorable wind conditions, and the terrain-induced turbulent wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Benton |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93512 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375049N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182336W |
| 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 | 1356 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4124 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 24 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24885 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 12 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2009 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Reno, NV |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41BM |
| NTSB Number | SEA07FA231 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schempp-Hirth |
| Aircraft Model | Ventus-CM |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1207 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 14 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1147 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Geofrey R. Loyns |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Minden |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89423 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Geofrey R. Loyns |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Minden |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89423 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | MEV |
| Departure City | Minden |
| Departure State | NV |
| 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 | MEV |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2009 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |