Schempp-Hirth NIMBUS 4DM accident near Minden, NV

On July 13, 1999, a Schempp-Hirth NIMBUS 4DM (glider) was involved in an accident near Minden, NV. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

July 13, 1999

Place

Minden, NV

Aircraft

Schempp-Hirth NIMBUS 4DM · Glider

Injuries

2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

38.982°N, 119.673°W

NTSB ID

20001212X19310

Official records · LAX99MA251

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
• Investigation page: status, final report and safety recommendations

NTSB summary

The full report is available on the NTSB Web site. See http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm for details. SUMMARY: On July 13, 1999, at 1310 Pacific daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4DM motorized glider, N807BB, experienced an in-flight breakup while maneuvering near Minden, Nevada. The commercial glider pilot and a passenger were fatally injured, and the glider was destroyed. The glider had departed from Minden-Tahoe airport at 1240 and was operated by the owner/pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. No flight plan was filed for the local area soaring flight. The glider was certificated in the United States in the experimental category for exhibition and racing, and it was also certificated in Germany in the standard class, utility category.

Probable cause

The pilot's excessive use of the elevator control during recovery from an inadvertently entered spin and/or spiral dive during which the glider exceeded the maximum permissible speed, which resulted in the overload failure of the wings at loadings beyond the structure's ultimate design loads.

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Browse: Nevada · Schempp-Hirth aircraft

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.