- Date
- March 20, 1988, 13:02 local (18:02 UTC)
- Place
- Whitwell, TN
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N209KSlingsby Dart T-51
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880320044919A
- Case key
- 7722
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
The glider was observed to make a normal release. While still in a turn it encountered a wind shear and rolled into a vertical bank. It sideslipped for a few seconds then the nose dropped into a vertical dive. The pilot stated that when he attempted to pull out into level flight the acft broke apart. The plt used the parachute and received a broken ankle. The private pilot test standard does not address high speed unusual attitude recoveries in gliders.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N209K
- Reported as
- Slingsby Dart T-51
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 1498
- Airframe hours
- 1,327
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- J. J. Newell
- Registered owner
- Mullaney, Michael J.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1987 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- TN89
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 42 in this make and model · 57 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CSV, 46 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.