- Date
- March 5, 1994, 15:33 local (21:33 UTC)
- Place
- Mcminnville, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N551TJPZL-Bielsko SZD-55-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940305003789A
- Case key
- 3354
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft during the landing approach.
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 pilot was attempting a landing in a grass field. He stated that on final approach, he lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft struck a fence, and crashed into the field.
Factual narrative
On March 5, 1994, about 1533 central standard time, a Bielsko SZD-55-1 Glider, N551TJ was destroyed following a collision with terrain near McMinnville, Tennessee. The private pilot was not injured in the accident. The aircraft was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight. The flight departed Mcminnville about 1330 enroute to Knoxville, Tennessee.
The pilot stated that he was attempting a landing in a grass field. He stated that he lost control of the aircraft on short final, and impacted a fence and the terrain.
The pilot failed to complete the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1/2.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N551TJ
- Reported as
- PZL-Bielsko SZD-55-1
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 551192029
- Airframe hours
- 100
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ware, Robert R.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 5, 1993 · 50 hours before
- Destination
- TYS · Knoxville, TN
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 10 in this make and model · 660 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNC, 10 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.