Event LAX97LA024

Factual narrative

On October 20, 1996, at 1320 hours Pacific daylight time, a Schweizer 2-33-A glider, N65844, collided with the terrain short of dirt runway 22R at the Armed Forces Reserve Center located in Los Alamitos, California. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the certified instructor pilot and his dual student were not injured. The flight departed at 1300 for a local instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time with the winds reported from 220 degrees at 13 knots. According to the pilot, the student let the glider get out of position during the final approach for landing. The student was having a hard time coordinating the controls and the aircraft became low and slow. The instructor took over and landed the glider in a field short of the runway. The left wing collided with a pipe protruding from the ground and bent the spar. The instructor stated there were no mechanical problems with the glider prior to the accident. During the final approach, the student pilot was having difficulty controlling the glider and was not aligned with the runway. The glider got low and slow before the instructor pilot took over the controls. The pilot landed short of the runway and the aircraft collided with an object protruding from the ground that damaged the spar. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12