Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On June 11, 2006, at 1534 mountain daylight time, a Rolladen-Schneider GMBH, N48CW, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an off-airport landing at Buena Vista, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant on board the airplane, was seriously injured. The flight originated from Buena Vista at 1106.

The pilot said he had been soaring for about 4 hours when he decided to return to the airport. The AWOS (automated weather observation system) had been indicating that the wind was generally from the south-southeast at 10 to 18 knots. As the pilot got closer to the airport, AWOS indicated the wind was from 240 degrees and greater than 20 knots, then 250 degrees at 20 knots. When the pilot had descended to 700 feet agl (above ground level), he encountered a "strong sink." He said that he lost 400 feet in 12 seconds (2,000 fpm descent) and there was a barn, aircraft, and vehicles in his flight path. He decided to make a 180-degree turn in an attempt to land in a field west of the airport. The pilot rolled out of the turn at 30 feet agl. At 15 feet agl, the glider stalled and landed hard on rough, uneven terrain hard. The landing gear was torn off and the fuselage was buckled. the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in an inadvertent stall/mush. Contributing to the accident was the downdraft.