LAX92LA393 · Sparks-Schreder HP-140V
Sparks-Schreder HP-140V · Accident: loss of control in flight en route
From AVE to AVE
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX92LA393
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Sparks-Schreder HP-140V
- Aircraft type
- Sparks Schreder HP-140
- Category
- Glider
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N704B
- Operator
- Malcolm D. Jessop · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From AVETo AVE
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Flt control syst, elevator control cable/rod › Separation
- Flt control syst, rudder control cable/rod › Separation
- Maintenance, installation › Improper
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE GLIDER WAS SOARING WITH 2 OTR GLIDERS AT 4000 FT. THE OTR PLTS SAID THE ACDNT PLT RADIOED HE HAD A CTL PRBLM JUST BFR THE GLIDER ENTERED A SLOW ROTATING LEFT SPIRAL THAT CONTD TO GND IMPACT. THE PLT HAD NO PARACHUTE. THIS WAS A KIT BUILT GLIDER THAT USED A V-TAIL RUDDERVATOR FOR PITCH & YAW CTL. POST-ACDNT EXAM SHOWED THAT A CTL CABLE BTN THE MIXING BELL CRANK & THE CTL STICK FLOATING BEAM ON THE LEFT SIDE HAD PULLED OUT OF ITS CLEVIS FORK SHANK. THIS PRECLUDED PITCH OR YAW CTL OF THE GLIDER BY THE PLT. DETAILED EXAM OF THE LEFT & RGT SIDE CABLES & FITTINGS BTN THE MIXING BELL CRANK & THE FLOATING BEAM REVEALED THAT THE MIXING BELL CRANK CLEVIS FORK FITTINGS HAD BEEN PROPERLY SWAGED WITH A KEARNEY TYPE SWAGING TOOL. EVIDENCE SHOWED THE FLOATING BEAM END CLEVIS FORK FITTINGS HAD BEEN IMPROPERLY SWAGED WITH A NECOPRESS TYPE TOOL. DETAILED REVIEW OF MAINT RECORDS DISCLOSED NO RECORD THAT THE CABLES HAD BEEN CHGD OR MDFYD SINCE ORIGINAL INSTLN. CABLES (WITH TERMINAL FITTINGS ALREADY SWAGED ON) HAD BEEN SUPPLIED TO THE GLIDER BUILDER IN KIT FORM.
Probable cause
THE LOSS OF PITCH AND YAW CONTROL DUE TO THE SEPARATION OF THE RUDDERVATOR CONTROL CABLE FROM ITS CLEVIS FORK DUE TO IMPROPER INSTALLATION.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX92LA393
- Event ID
- 20001211X15727
- Case number
- LAX92LA393
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 204d2da53b50b2faea32f908b4b36cf0cd411d658a518ba2ea7ea7d1a1aa0d01; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:55:47.048Z.