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BFO90DIG01

1990-02-19 · CABINS, West Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Current FAA registration · N511M

Make / Model
ROLLADEN-SCHNEIDER LS-6
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A66639

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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