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SEA83FA141

1983-06-29 · ALBANY, Oregon, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport S12

N83GL has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (EMBRAER S A EMB-545, built 2025), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE HOME BUILT, POWERED GLIDER WAS BEING FLOWN ON A LOCAL TEST FLIGHT. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE ACFT WAS IN UNPOWERED FLT (GLIDING) WHEN IT ENTERED A DESCENT & CRASHED. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME IT BEGAN DESCENDING, THEY OBSERVED SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM THE ACFT THAT APPEARED TO BE A WING. AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THE LEFT WING SKIN HAD SEPARATED FROM THE SPAR. THE LEFT SPAR WAS STILL ATTACHED TO THE FUSELAGE AND WAS BENT & TWISTED TOWARD THE TIP. THE ACFT HAD COME TO REST INVERTED & BOTH STABILIZERS OF THE V-TAIL HAD BROKEN. THE LEFT STABILIZER & LEFT WING SKIN WERE FOUND 185 & 300 FT, RESPECTIVELY, FROM THE MAIN WRECKAGE. AN INSPECTION OF THE LEFT WING REVEALED THAT THE SKIN HAD BEEN ATTACHED TO THE RIBS, BUT HAD NOT BEEN BONDED TO THE SPAR. ACCORDING TO THE ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS, THE SKIN SHOULD HAVE BEEN BOND WITH EPOXY TO BOTH THE TOP & BOTTOM OF THE SPAR. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_SEA83FA141.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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