- Date
- May 30, 1996, 14:20 local (18:20 UTC)
- Place
- Franklinton, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1197SSchweizer SGS233A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960530012039A
- Case key
- 3731
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 instructor pilot to maintain control of the aircraft.
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 instructor pilot stated that the student pilot was operating the aircraft controls during the landing approach. The glider started to drift right of the runway centerline. As the glider drifted farther, the instructor took over the controls. He reported having full deflection of the flight controls to counteract the drift, but the glider continued to drift. The right wing tip of the glider then hit trees, and the glider spun until it came to rest in the trees approximately ten feet off the ground. The instructor pilot reported that the trees are about 25 feet from the edge of the runway.
Factual narrative
On May 30, 1996, about 1420 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer SGS233A glider, N1197S, was substantially damaged following a collision with trees during a landing approach at the North Raleigh airport, Franklinton, North Carolina. Neither the instructor pilot nor the student pilot were injured in the accident. The glider was being operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed for the instructional flight. The flight originated at the Franklinton airport approximately 1400 eastern daylight time.
The instructor pilot stated the student pilot was operating the aircraft controls during the landing approach. The glider started to drift right of the runway centerline. As the glider drifted farther, the instructor took over the flight controls. He reported having full deflection of the flight controls to counteract the drift, but the glider continued to drift. The right wing tip of the glider then hit trees, and the glider spun until it came to rest in the trees approximately ten feet off the ground. The instructor pilot reports that the trees are about 25 feet from the edge of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1197S
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS233A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 0197
- Airframe hours
- 2,050
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- John Wiliam Styer
- Registered owner
- Carolina Gliding
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 1, 1995 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- 00NC · North Raleigh, NC
- Airport
- 00NC · North Raleigh, runway 5, 2,600 × 36 ft, asphalt
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
- 53
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 3,200 total · 800 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 25 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.