NTSB NYC95LA215 — 1995-09-02 · MAYVILLE, New York, United States

Current FAA registration · N1196

Make / Model: SCHLEICHER K 8 B
Year of manufacture: 1966 · 29 years old at event
Seats / Engines: 1 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A050CC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N1196 Schleicher KA-8B Minor

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate inflight planning, which resulted in an inflight collision with trees.

Factual narrative

On September 2, 1995, at 1414 eastern daylight time, a Schleicher KA-8B, N1196, a glider, sustained substantial damage during impact with trees, while attempting to land at the Dart Airport, Mayville, New York. The commercial pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local, personal flight. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated: I left Dart Airport for a short personal flight....On return to Dart Field, about 1/4 mile from approach end of [runway] 6, got a very unusual sink of down air condition and fell short of field. Put glider in small tree. The glider pilot reported he was on approach when he encountered a very unusual sink or down air condition. The aircraft descended and struck trees, about a quarter mile short of the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1995_NYC95LA215.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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