NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX01LA142
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The glider's encounter with a dust devil during takeoff that resulted in a loss of control.
Factual narrative
On April 8, 2001, at 1235 hours mountain standard time, a Schweizer 2-33A, N7778S, sustained substantial damage when it collided with the ground at Pleasant Valley Airport, Peoria, Arizona. Boboquivari Soaring School, d.b.a. Turf Soaring School, was operating the glider under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a glider ride for a prospective student. The commercial pilot was not injured and one passenger sustained minor injuries. The glider was departing at the time of the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The pilot reported that during takeoff the glider encountered a dust devil, causing the left wing to strike the ground. It then lifted the glider 50 feet into the air. The pilot released the tow line and the glider started a slow descending turn to the right until it struck the ground, cracking the fuselage. The glider came to rest next to the runway. On takeoff, the glider encountered a dust devil, which resulted in the left wing to strike the ground, then lifting the glider about 50 feet into the air. The pilot released the tow line and the glider started a slow descending turn to the right until it struck the ground. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2001_LAX01LA142.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 (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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