Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pleasant Valley Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Peoria, Arizona 85382
Sunday, April 24, 2011 15:24 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The local soaring flight departed via air-tow. Upon entering two back-to-back thermals, the glider climbed to an altitude of 9,000 feet mean sea level. The pilot maneuvered the glider toward marker clouds for additional thermaling; however, he encountered what he described as severe turbulence and decided to head back to the airport. Just abeam the northwest end of a lake near the airport, the glider encountered turbulence along with a high sink rate. The pilot reported the sink rate to be from 500 to 800 feet per minute (fpm), with extremes up to 1,200 fpm to 1,500 fpm. The pilot attempted to maneuver the glider to minimize its time in the sink condition. He realized that he was not going to make it back to the airport and started to look for a place to land. Due to busy roads and full parking lots, he chose to land along the shoreline of the lake. The glider touched down about 30 yards from the shore. The pilot stated that, in retrospect, he believes that the glider was caught on the leeward side of a ridge or the downdraft of a wave. He reported no mechanical anomalies with the glider prior to the accident. The right side of the tail separated from the glider during the ditching and damage occurred to the spoilers and ailerons.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The glider's encounter with turbulence and loss of lift, which resulted in a ditching in a lake.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/24/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1524 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Peoria |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85382 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334802N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121502W |
| Event Location Airport | Pleasant Valley Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P48 |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28516 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 7 2011 12:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N110AZ |
| NTSB Number | WPR11CA208 |
| 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 | DOKTOR FIBERGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | H101 SALTO |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 61 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 683 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 850 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas Brueckner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Durango |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81303 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Thomas Brueckner |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Durango |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81303 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | P48 |
| Departure City | Peoria |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1417 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | P48 |
| Destination City | Peoria |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 7 2011 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |