- Date
- May 24, 1998, 16:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cordele, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5448GBurkhart Grob G-103
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980524010699A
- Case key
- 3996
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 pilot's improper descent rate that led to a hard landing and porpoise, and his improper recovery from the ensuing bounced landing, resulting in the eventual separation of the empennage. A factor was the updraft.
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
According to the pilot, he was flaring above the runway when the glider experienced an updraft and began a slight climb. In order to counteract the slight climb, the pilot added additional spoiler. The glider then came down hard on the runway and bounced back into the air. The glider continued to oscillate in this manner for three oscillations until the empennage separated from the fuselage. The glider then rolled off the runway and came to a stop.
Factual narrative
On May 24, 1998, at 1630 eastern daylight time, a Grob G-103, N5448G, executed a hard landing at Crisp County Airport, Cordele, Georgia. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and visual flight rules. There was no flight plan for this local flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident. The glider was substantially damaged, and the private pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight departed Crisp County Airport at 1545.
According to the pilot, he was flaring above the runway when the glider experienced an updraft and began a slight climb. In order to counteract the slight climb, the pilot added additional spoiler. The glider then came down hard on the runway and bounced back into the air. The glider continued to oscillate in this manner for three oscillations until the empennage separated from the fuselage. The glider then rolled off the runway and came to a stop.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5448G
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G-103
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3868-K-109
- Airframe hours
- 1,012
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Panos Kanes
- Registered owner
- Mid-Georgia Soaring Assoc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 1997
- Departed
- CKF
- Airport
- CKF · Crisp County - Cordele, runway 5, 5,007 × 100 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 78 total · 14 in this make and model · 72 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 28 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MCN, 50 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.
Other investigations on N5448G · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.