- Date
- May 20, 1989, 12:39 local (16:39 UTC)
- Place
- Warrenton, VA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N9489PPiper PA-25-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 22, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890520012629A
- Case key
- 11500
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 glider pilot to maintain a proper climb rate during takeoff and the delay in releasing from the towplane after realizing that he was climbing well above the towplane. Contributing to the accident was the updraft encountered after takeoff and the lack of recent experience of the glider pilot.
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 Piper was towing a glider, a Schweizer sgs 2-33. During climb about 200 ft AGL when, according to the towplane plt, his acft abruptly pitched down. The towplane descended and the plt was unable to recover in time to avoid the acft from striking the ground. According to the glider plt, during the takeoff climb he encountered an updraft which caused the glider to accelerate and climb despite corrective action. The glider plt stated that when he released the towrope he heard a pop sound and then the glider pitched up. The glider pilot stated the airspeed reached 105 mph and the glider pitched up to about 50 to 60 degrees. The glider reached about 650 AGL before it slowed to 50 mph after which he returned to land. Investigation revealed the glider pilot had 17 hrs total time in gliders; however, until the day of the accident he had not flown gliders for about 2 yrs. This was his third flight of the day and the first one without an instructor aboard.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9489P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-7405589
- Airframe hours
- 3,135
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Warrenton Soaring Center
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 8, 1989 · 45 hours before
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,076 total · 29 in this make and model · 1,036 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IAD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.