LAX83FA386 · Schweizer SGS 1-35C
Schweizer SGS 1-35C · Accident: in flight encounter with weather while maneuvering
From Jamul, CA to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX83FA386
- 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
Schweizer SGS 1-35C
- Aircraft type
- Schweizer SGS-1
- 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
- N2941H
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Jamul, CATo not recorded
- 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
- Maneuvering
- 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
- In flight encounter with weather
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- 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
- Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Jamul, CA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
REPORTEDLY, AFTER WAITING ALMOST 2 HRS, THE PLT DECIDED HE WOULD FLY THE SAILPLANE, EITHER FOR 1 HR OR UNTIL THE OWNER ARRIVED, WHEN THE OWNER ARRIVED, HE OBSERVED THE SAILPLANE FLYING BACK & FORTH ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF RIDGE AREA. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA ON THE DOWNWIND SIDE OF A RIDGE THAT SLOPED DOWNWARD TO THE NORTH AT ABOUT A 30 DEG ANGLE. ATHOUGH THERE WERE NO KNOWN WITNESSES, THE OWNER SAW THE SAILPLANE DISAPPEAR BEHIND A RIDGE IN THE VICINITY OF THE ACCIDENT SIDE. DURING IMPACT, THE SAILPLANE STRUCK A TREE, APRX 12 FT TALL, & BROKE IT IN HALF. IT CAME TO REST ON TREES & BRUSH WITH EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE NOSE & COCKPIT AREAS. NO PREIMPACT MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF THE SAILPLANE WAS FOUND. THE CRASH SITE WAS LOCATED IN AN AREA KNOWN TO HAVE PERIODS OF HIGH SINK. THE PLT WAS A NAVAL AVIATOR WITH ONLY ABOUT 3.4 HRS FLT TIME IN THIS MAKE & MODEL.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX83FA386
- Event ID
- 20001214X44191
- Case number
- LAX83FA386
- 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: 06e73f22a55b4cef1d9bb2e10e9af89b49faf963f43744cb8044e159e2c4bb61; retrieved 2026-09-21T06:20:09.533Z.