Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Truckee-Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Truckee, California 96161
Sunday, July 13, 2014 17:23 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that following an uneventful flight, he checked the weather at his destination airport, noting wind was from 220 degrees at 7 knots, gusting to 16 knots. The pilot initiated an approach to landing on runway 20, however, while on final approach, the glider began to descend rapidly and roll to the left. The pilot applied opposite control inputs and noted that the glider began to turn to the right prior to impacting terrain slightly downslope from the runway. Recorded weather observations at the airport about 23 minutes after the accident revealed that the wind was from 250 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 18 knots. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control in gusting wind conditions while on final approach to the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/13/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1723 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Truckee |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96161 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 391935N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1200750W |
| Event Location Airport | TRUCKEE-TAHOE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 48 |
| Airport Elevation | 5901 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 45 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 226 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTRK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5900 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KTRK 140045Z 25011G18KT 10SM SKC 31/06 A3025 |
| 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) | 33313 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Sep 17 2014 1:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | cawj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N501WG |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA292 |
| 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 | JONKER SAILPLANES (PTY) LTD |
| Aircraft Model | JS1-C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1C-050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1587 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 2 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 130 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GAWTHROP WILLIAM H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARSON CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 897060755 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | GAWTHROP WILLIAM H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | CARSON CITY |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 897060755 |
| 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 | TRK |
| Departure City | Truckee |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | TRK |
| Destination City | Truckee |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2014 5:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 4650 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |