- Date
- June 6, 2012, 17:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- New Douglas, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N400HKHoac-Austria HK 36R Super Dimona
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA St. Louis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120606011039A
- Case key
- 83941
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 landing flare and inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he maintained excessive airspeed during the final approach to landing and the glider bounced (in what he described as a pilot-induced oscillation) after the initial touchdown. The landing gear collapsed on the third bounce, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that the glider had no mechanical malfunctions or failures prior to the landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he maintained excessive airspeed during the final approach to landing and the glider bounced during the initial touchdown. The glider bounced two more times and the landing gear collapsed on the third bounce which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that the glider did not have a mechanical malfunction prior to the landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N400HK
- Reported as
- Hoac-Austria HK 36R Super Dimona
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 36.400
- Airframe hours
- 1,523
- Engine
- Rotax 912A2, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gary Payne
- Registered owner
- Franklin Gene O
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 5, 2012
- Departed
- 4D0 · Grand Ledge, MI
- Destination
- 3IL1 · New Douglas, IL
- Airport
- 3IL1 · Silver Creek Glider Club, runway 36, 3,000 × 200 ft, grass/turf
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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Flight hours
- 184 total · 25 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Temperature
- 81 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 3, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 725 KB in all.
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 N400HK · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.