31.2 hours P1? To me that seems a little low? What
are the US requirements for a commercial rating? Here
in the UK you need 50 and silver before you can get
a Basic Instructor rating (To give first lessons, but
not past turning, so I think about equivalent..).
Is this a normal requirement or is this exceptional?

Jamie

At 16:30 21 April 2005, wrote:
NTSB Identification: LAX05LA131
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, April 06, 2005 in Mokuleia,
HI
Aircraft: Schweizer SGS 2-32, registration: N693U
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 2 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change,
and may contain
errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected
when the final
report has been completed.

On April 6, 2005, at 1300 Hawaiian standard time, a
Schweizer SGS 2-32
glider, N693U, impacted mountainous terrain 0.4 miles
south of the
Dillingham Airfield, Mokuleia, Hawaii. The commercial
glider pilot was
fatally injured and the two passengers sustained minor
injuries. The
glider sustained substantial damaged. Sailplane Ride
Adventures, Inc.,
owned and operated the glider under the provisions
of 14 CFR Part 91 as
a scenic sailplane ride. Visual meteorological conditions
prevailed,
and a flight plan had not been filed for the local
flight. The
20-minute scenic flight was in the air approximately
17 minutes.

According to an interview summary provided by the Federal
Aviation
Administration (FAA), the passengers reported that
they were circling
around a hill and thought that they were returning
to the airport. The
glider crossed over a ridge to a valley to look at
a waterfall. The
glider turned left then right in a gentle but accelerating
manner. The
glider also pitched up and down, and the passengers
felt like they were
falling. The pilot announced that they were 'going
in.' The glider
impacted trees and terrain, and came to rest upside
down.

Another witness, who was a glider pilot flying at the
time of the
accident, observed the accident glider behind her,
heading east
approximately 400-500 feet above the ridge. She checked
back on the
glider's position relative to hers and noticed the
glider 'turn right
(toward the ridge) and its nose come up slightly.'
The glider turned
'approximately 45 degrees to the right, then turned
back to the left
and immediately entered a spin to the left.' The witness
reported that
the glider rotated twice before it entered a spin to
the right. The
witness then lost sight of the glider behind trees
before it completed
a rotation to the right.

The accident site was at 21 degrees 34 minutes 21 seconds
north
latitude and 158 degrees 12 minutes and 54 seconds
west longitude at an
elevation of approximately 1,000 feet msl. The glider
came to rest on
the east side of a gulch that cut through the east-west
running
ridgeline situated to the south of Dillingham Airfield.
Review of
photographs of the accident site revealed that the
glider fuselage came
to rest inverted with the left and right inboard wings
intact. The left
and right outboard wing sections were detached; however,
the left
outboard wing section remained attached to the main
wreckage via flight
control cables. The right outboard wing section came
to rest
approximately 40 feet from the main wreckage at the
base of freshly
broken trees. The wing leading edges displayed circular
indentations
similar in size to the diameter of the surrounding
trees. The tail
section folded over the belly of the airplane.

The glider was recovered to Dillingham Airfield on
April 8, 2005.
According to the FAA inspectors that responded to the
accident site,
flight control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit
to the flight
control surfaces.

The pilot received his student pilot certificate on
March 16, 2005. On
March 24, 2005, he received his private pilot certificate
with a glider
rating. On March 26, 2005, he obtained his commercial
pilot certificate
with a glider rating. According to the pilot's logbook,
as of April 5,
2005 (the day before the accident), he accumulated
a total of 48.4
hours of flight time, of which 31.2 hours were as pilot-in-command
.