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Atlas / NTSB / FTW78DPG12

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW78DPG12

1978-01-02 MENA, Arkansas, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N7716S

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

SCHWEIZER SGS 1-26D

Year of manufacture

1968 · 10 years old at event

Engine

NONE NONE

Seats / Engines

1 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19680927

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AA6FF9

Registrant of record

DITTMAN WILLIAM H

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

SCHWEIZER 1-26 · N7716S

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

C

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EE

Operator type

Part 91 (general aviation)

Airport

MENA

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

010° / 10 kt

Temp

10° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000000000416

Pilot

Certificate

Airline transport

Total hours

20

Age

15

Investigator remarks

PILOT FAILED TO FIND LIFTING THERMAL.

Cause factors

  • 64/A/27 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS OR PLANNING Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 64/J/35 J
    PILOT IN COMMAND SELECTED UNSUITABLE TERRAIN Joint cause
  • 64/J/02 J
    PILOT IN COMMAND ATTEMPTED OPERATION BEYOND EXPERIENCE/ABILITY LEVEL Joint cause

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 0113. Source file NTSB_1978_3_0113.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.