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LAX83LA190

1983-04-10 · LA JOLLA, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CA84

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PLT WAS QUALIFIED FOR SOLO WINCH LAUNCHES IN AN SGS-1-26 GLIDER. ON HIS 1ST WINCH LAUNCH USING A C.G. HOOK IN THIS GLIDER, HE ALLOWED THE ACFT TO ENTER AN ABNORMALLY HIGH ANGLE OF ATTACK, WHICH WAS OBSERVED THRU-OUT THE TAKEOFF PROCESS. THE GLIDE THEN ENTERED A STALL-SPIN & CRASHED. ACCORDING TO THE OWNER'S MANUAL, FORWARD ELEVATOR MUST BE USED AFTER LEAVING THE GROUND DUE TO THE LOCATION OF THE TOW HOOK & THE TENDENCY OF THE GLIDER TO ENTER A STEEP NOSE-UP ATTITUDE. THE MANUAL REQUIRED PRONOUNCED FORWARD PRESSURE THRU-OUT THE TRANSITION ARC. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_LAX83LA190.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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