NTSB CAROL · Event
Event BFO90DIG01
Registry · N511M
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
ROLLADEN-SCHNEIDER LS-6
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A66639
Registrant of record
LEONARD STEVEN E
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT FAILED TO DETECT AND REMAIN CLEAR OF THE POWER LINE WHICH CROSSED THE FIELD IN WHICH HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE IN THE AREA AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.
Factual narrative
WITNESSES REPORTED SEEING THE GLIDER FLYING NORMALLY AT A LOW ALTITUDE AND APPEARED AS IF IT WAS GOING TO LAND. DURING THE LANDING APPROACH, THE GLIDER CONTACTED A POWER LINE WHICH SLICED THROUGH THE CANOPY, FATALLY INJURING THE PILOT. THE GLIDER THEN DESCENDED TO THE TERRAIN AND CONTACTED A BARBED WIRE FENCE PRIOR TO COMING TO REST. FLAPS WERE FOUND IN THE FULL DOWN POSITION AND THE LANDING GEAR WAS EXTENDED. OTHER PILOTS IN THE AREA REPORTED MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE AND STRONG ROTOR ACTIVITY IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT SITE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_BFO90DIG01.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗