Arlington SISU 1A N252JB

Summary

On 15 October 1988 at about 20:30 local time, a Arlington SISU 1A registered N252JB, operated by Beran, Lynda G., was involved in an accident near Borrego Springs, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

15 October 1988 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Borrego Springs, California, United States

Coordinates

33.1700, -116.2705

Aircraft

Arlington SISU 1A

Registration

N252JB

Category

Glider

Operator

Beran, Lynda G.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Borrego Spring → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX89DUM01

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

WHILE THERMAL SOARING, THE ACFT ENTERED A STEEP SPINNING DESCENT, THREE TURNS TO THE RIGHT FOLLOWED BY TWO TURNS TO THE LEFT AND GROUND IMPACT IN A NEAR VERTICAL ATTITUDE. NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND OF AIRCRAFT STRUCTURAL FAILURE OR CONTROL MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT'S PARTNER IN OWNERSHIP OF THE GLIDER AND LONG-TIME CLOSE FRIEND STATED THAT HE HAD INADVERTENTLY ENTERED A SPIN IN THE AIRCRAFT SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER. HE INDICATED THAT HE HAD TROUBLE RECOVERING FROM IT, SPEED BRAKES WERE INEFFECTIVE AND HE COULD NOT RECOVER FROM IT UNTIL FLAPS WERE RETRACTED AND THE CONTROL STICK WAS PUSHED FULL FORWARD. ALTHOUGH THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND WITH THE SPEED BRAKES RETRACTED AND FLAPS EXTENDED ABOUT 10 DEGREES, BOTH SYSTEMS DISPLAYED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE AND IT COULD NOT BE DETERMINED WHAT THEIR PRE-IMPACT POSITIONS WERE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.