6 Aug 2010: LET L 33 SOLO

6 Aug 2010: LET L 33 SOLO — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Adelanto, CA, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s inability to make it to the airport as a result of his inadequate planning for the gusting headwinds.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot reported that after a normal release about 2 miles north of the airport at 3,000 feet, he turned the glider south towards the airport. Approximately 1 mile from the airport the glider encountered strong winds from the south and it entered a high rate of descent with minimal forward motion. The pilot determined the glider would not make the airport and he executed an off-airport landing. During landing, the right wing struck a bush and the glider ground looped, substantially damaging its wings and fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe prior to the accident. An airport located about 9 miles to the east of the accident airport indicated at the time of the accident wind was from 180 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 16 knots.

Contributing factors

Contributed to outcome
cause Pilot
Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather: VMC, wind 180/11kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

Search flights between any two airports with live fares.

By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.

Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.

Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.

NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.