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NYC88LA159

1988-06-05 · ERWINNA, Pennsylvania, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 9N1

N1240S has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (SONEX AIRCRAFT ONEX), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

ACCIDENT WAS A LOSS OF DIRECTIONAL CONTROL DURING LANDING WHICH FOLLOWED A HARD LANDING. CONTRIBUTING WAS THE IMPROPER USE OF SPOILER CONTROL BY THE PRIVATE PILOT AND THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR TO ADEQUATELY SUPERVISE THE ACTIONS OF THE PRIVATE PILOT.

Factual narrative

THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI) RPRTD THAT WHEN HE & THE PRIVATE PLT WERE LANDING, FULL SPOILERS WERE USED. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE GLIDER SETTLED VERY RAPIDLY, TOUCHED DOWN HARD, BOUNCED, AND THE RIGHT WING DROPPED. THE GLIDER THEN TURNED ABOUT 70 DEG TO THE RIGHT, WENT DOWN AN INCLINE & HIT TREES. THE CFI RPRTD THE WIND WAS FROM 300 DEG AT 18 GUSTING 26 KTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_NYC88LA159.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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