WPR09CA272 · Schweizer SGS 2-32
Sky Sailing Schweizer SGS 2-32 · Accident: controlled flight into terrain/object (CFIT) while maneuvering
From Warner Springs Gliderport Airport (CL35) to Warner Springs Gliderport Airport (CL35)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR09CA272
- 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
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- 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 2-32
- Aircraft type
- Schweizer SGS-2
- 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
- N5826V
- Operator
- Sky Sailing
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Warner Springs Gliderport Airport (CL35), Warner Springs, CATo Warner Springs Gliderport Airport (CL35), Warner Springs, CA
- 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
- Defining eventThe 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
- Controlled flight into terrain/object (CFIT)
- 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
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
After being towed to altitude, the pilot of the glider began soaring above a mountain peak. After making several circular passes over the peak the glider began to descend, and the pilot initiated a turn to an adjacent ridge. As he passed over the ridge, he felt the glider sink and he initiated a descending right turn. During the turn, the pilot felt the glider "jolt" and yaw to the left. He verified that the flight controls functioned correctly, and initiated an uneventful straight-in approach and landing at the departure airport. Postaccident inspection revealed damage consistent with an in-flight collision with a tree. The glider sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar and aileron during the collision.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a tree while maneuvering in flight.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record WPR09CA272
- Event ID
- 20090601X55651
- Case number
- WPR09CA272
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: 04f1bbce684a205e3051eecaa429bc33c1a5b590aede5e34d7ccef08ab1f80bc; retrieved 2026-09-15T11:15:42.370Z.