- Date
- September 2, 1985, 14:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Aiken, SC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N5DBBryan HP-14
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850902042299A
- Case key
- 6868
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Plt reported that sailplane was positioned for a tow in tall grass beside the rwy. He said that during the takeoff the left wing was slowed by the tall grass allowing the right wing to accelerate. The sailplane yawed left and rolled left until 90 degrees to flight path. Tow rope detached from tow ring on glider. Glider pitched down and contacted ground. Fuselage was bent as glider slid sideways to a stop.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5DB
- Reported as
- Bryan HP-14
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 14-26
- Engine
- None NONE, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Willarrd M. Davidson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 22, 1985
- Airport
- AIK · Aiken Municipal
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 57
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 4,995 total · 105 in this make and model · 4,989 as pilot in command · 36 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,700 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AGS, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.