NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI05CA255
Registry · N93205
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
LET L 33 SOLO
Year of manufacture
1993 · 12 years old at event
Engine
NONE NONE
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19940307
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ACEF8D
Registrant of record
MELINE MARILYN R
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain a proper descent rate during landing due to the wind gusts. The wind gusts were a factor.
Factual narrative
On July 28, 2005, about 1335 central daylight time, a Let L 33 Solo glider, N93205, piloted by a private pilot sustained substantial damage during landing on runway 18 (2,550 feet by 200 feet, turf), at the Stanton Airfield, Stanton, Minnesota. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The pilot was not injured. The local flight originated about 1250. In a written statement, the pilot said that while on final approach to land, he experienced extreme turbulence and a very rapid descent. He stated that he immediately closed the glider's spoilers, but the rapid descent continued until the right wing impacted the ground and the glider ground-looped. The winds recorded at an airport located 12 nautical miles northwest of the accident site were from 220 degrees magnetic at 4 knots gusting to 15 knots. The glider was damaged during landing when the right wing struck the ground causing the glider to ground-loop. The pilot reported experiencing extreme turbulence and a rapid descent while on final approach to land. He stated that he retracted the glider's spoilers but the descent continued until the right wing struck the ground. The recorded winds were 220 degrees at 4 knots gusting to 15 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2005_CHI05CA255.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 ↗