NTSB Factual Report

On September 21, 2002, about 1330 Pacific daylight time, an experimental PZL-Bielsko SZD-42-2 Jantar glider, N131AS, collided with mountainous terrain near Hemet, California. The private pilot/owner was operating the glider under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries; the glider sustained substantial damage. The personal local flight departed Hemet-Ryan Airport (HMT) about 1140. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigator interviewed a glider pilot who witnessed the accident. He reported that he and the accident pilot were in separate gliders climbing over the mountains. The accident pilot was about 1,000 feet lower than the witness. Moments later, the witness saw the accident pilot on the side of the mountain with the glider facing downward. He waved to the accident pilot and the accident pilot waved back. Although both gliders were equipped with radios, no radio communications took place. When rescuers arrived at the accident site at 1428, the pilot was found dead and still in the cockpit.

The day after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident scene. He established control continuity and found no preimpact anomalies. The airframe was intact, and the inboard portion of the right wing partially separated from the fuselage at the root.

An autopsy was conducted on the pilot by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner on September 23, 2002, with specimens retained for toxicological analysis. The results of the toxicological tests were negative for alcohol and all screened drug substances.

NTSB Probable Cause

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate terrain clearance altitude.