Aviation Crash Map

Schleicher ASW-27B N273W

11 March 2007 · Williams, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 11 March 2007 at about 22:00 local time, a Schleicher ASW-27B registered N273W was involved in an accident near Williams, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 22:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Williams, California, United States
Nearest airport
Williams Glider Port (Q12)
Coordinates
39.0711, -122.0272
Aircraft
Schleicher ASW-27B
Registration
N273W
Category
Glider
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Williams → Williams
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX07CA104

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The pilot's misjudged distance/altitude and delay in retracting the spoilers that led to an undershoot, which resulted in a collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The glider touched down short of the runway and ground looped during landing. The pilot returned to the airport after he couldn't find any lift. He encountered some sink on his base and final legs. He felt that he didn't retract his spoilers soon enough to prevent his landing just short of the paved runway. The glider ground looped, which broke off the tail boom. The pilot made a recommendation regarding prevention of the accident. He noted that this was an uneventful day, which could lull one into not paying full attention to all phases of flight. The runway was more than long enough to allow him to land 1/4 of the way down the runway, which would have provided a much larger safety margin for his landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Schleicher ASW-27B accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
17 Jun 2008 Schleicher ASW-27B
N227K
Warren, Vermont, United States - Minor injuries -
8 Aug 2005 Schleicher ASW-27B
N274DW
Encinal, Texas, United States David Weaver No injuries -
19 Jun 2003 Schleicher ASW-27B
N271EC
Valyermo, California, United States - Fatal 1

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
1 Jun 2007 Piper PA-28-180
N5231L
Rosamond, California, United States - No injuries -
5 Jul 2007 Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-2C
N11YD
Bridgeport, California, United States - Minor injuries -
22 May 2007 Schweizer SGS2-33A
N65844
Los Alamitos, California, United States Civil Air Patrol - California Wing No injuries -
25 May 2007 Westland WASP HAS MK1
N612VH
Ramona, California, United States - Minor injuries -
8 Jul 2007 Cessna 152
N95038
Tracy, California, United States
no coordinates
California Airways Minor injuries -
25 May 2007 Skygear SKYGEAR
N51291
Chino, California, United States - Fatal 1

All 170,864 records in United States