# Accident 20010812018969A: Szd SZD551, Uvalde, TX, August 12, 2001 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: August 12, 2001, 17:45 local time - Place: Uvalde, TX - Airport: Garner Field Airport - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: In Traffic Pattern-Circling - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 29.2225° N, 99.7511° W: From the FAA - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=29.2225&lon=-99.7511&mi=10 - Aircraft: N55VW, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N55VW-2003-12-08) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Pdps Pzl-Bielsko SZD-55-1 (registry code 8821644, https://openairdocs.org/model/pdps-pzl-bielsko-szd-55-1) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG (registry code 99999, https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: SZD SZD551 - People aboard: 1 - Fatal injuries: 1 - Pilot flight hours: 470 total, 5 in this make and model - NTSB investigation: [NTSB FTW01LA179](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW01LA179) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20010812018969A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (.19) ON AUGUST 12, 2001, APPROXIMATELY 1800 CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME, A PDPS PZL-BLELSKO SZD-55-1 GLIDER, N55VW, WAS DESTROYED AFTER IT IMPACTED TERRAIN FOLLOWING A LOSS OF CONTROL WHILE ON APPROACH TO UVALDE GARNER FIELD (UVA), NEAR UVALDE, TEXAS. THE COMMERCIAL PILOT, WHO WAS SOLE OCCUPANT OF THE AIRCRAFT, SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. THE AIRPLANE WAS REGISTERED TO A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL AND WAS LEASED TO A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL. VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND A FLIGHT PLAN WAS NOT FILED FOR THE 14 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 91 PERSONAL FLIGHT. THE SOARING FLIGHT DEPARTED FROM UVA AT APPROXIMATELY 1415. THE OPERATOR OF THE AIRCRAFT, WHO WAS IN RADIO CONTACT WITH THE PILOT, REPORTED THAT THE PILOT HAD COMPLETED THE THIRD LEG OF A SOARING DISTANCE 300 KM TRIANGLE, AND WAS INBOUND FOR UVA. APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES FROM THE AIRPORT, THE PILOT STATED HE HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT. THE PILOT REPORTED HIS DOWNWIND POSITION AND WAS TURNING BASE WHEN THE GLIDER "STALLED AND SPUN 1 AND 1/2 ROTATIONS" AND IMPACTED THE GROUND. THE WRECKAGE CAME TO REST APPROXIMATELY 1/4 MILE FROM THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 15 IN AN ALLEY BETWEEN TWO HOUSES. ADDITIONAL WITNESSES REPORTED THAT TH E GLIDER BANKED, "APPEARED TO HAVE STALLED, AND SPIRALED COUNTER-CLOCKWISE" IN A NOSE LOW ATTITUDE INTO THE GROUND. (-23) ON AUGUST 12, 2001, AT APPROX. 1800 CDT, A PDPS PZL-BIELSKO, MODEL SZK-55-1, GLIDER N55VW, WAS DESTROYED WHEN IT IMPACTED TERRAIN ONE-HALF MILE NORTH OF UVA RUNWAY 15. THE GLIDER IS REGISTERED TO CHRISTINE N SCHNARR (TRUSTEE) OF ITHACA, NY. THE COMMERCIAL GLIDER PILOT RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES. VMC PREVAILED FOR THE 14 CFR PART 91 FLIGHT. THE FLIGHT ORIGINATED FROM UVA. ON APPROACH TO UVA RUNWAY 15, WITNESSES STATED THE AIRCRAFT WAS BANKING AND APPEARED TO HAVE STALLED AND SPIRALED NOSE FIRST INTO THE GROUND. THE GLIDER IMPACTED IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA ON AN ALLEY DIVIDING TWO ROWS OF HOUSES. THE ELT ACTIVATED AND WAS TURNED OFF APPROX 1820 BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. A FENCE WAS SLIGHTLY DAMAGED BY THE LEFT WING. THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO PERSONS ON THE GROUND. NO FIRE. NO NMAC. (.4) THE COMMERCIAL PILOT WAS COMPLETING THE THIRD LEG OF A SOARING 300 KM TRIANGLE. THE GLIDER OWNER, WHO WAS IN CONTACT WITH THE PILOT VIA RADIO, REPORTED THAT THE PILOT STATED HE HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT APPROXIMATELY 8 MILE S FROM THE AIRPORT. THE GLIDER ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN FOR RUNWAY 15 AND WAS TURNING BASE WHEN THE OWNER OBSERVED IT ENTER A SPIN. A WITNESS REPORTED THAT THE GLIDER BANKED, "APPEARED TO HAVE STALLED, AND SPIRALED COUNTER-CLOCKWISE" IN A NOSE LOW ATTITUDE INTO THE GROUND. ANOTHER WITNESS, LOCATED APPROXIMATELY A BLOCK FROM THE ACCIDENT SITE, STATED THAT SHE "LOOKED UP AND SAW THE GLIDER SPINNING COUNTER CLOCKWISE VERY FAST AND FALLING NOSE FIRST." THE GLIDER IMPACTED THE GROUND AND CAME TO REST APPROXIMATELY 1/4 MILE FROM THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY. THE PILOT HAD ACCUMULATED APPROXIMATELY 270 TOTAL GLIDER FLIGHT HOURS AND 5 FLIGHT HOURS IN THE SAME MAKE AND MODEL AS THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT. NO PRE-IMPACT ANOMALIES WERE NOTED WITH THE GLIDER DURING THE EXAMINATION. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB FTW01LA179](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW01LA179), Aug 12, 2001: Pdps PZL-Bielsko SZD-55-1 (N55VW), Uvalde, TX, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the base turn, which resulted in an inadvertant stall/spin. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.