- Date
- September 4, 1993, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- New Douglas, IL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N153SSBurkhart Grob G-103 Twin Astir
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930904051649A
- Case key
- 9306
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
Failure of the glider tow attachment. Factors related to the accident were the improper emergency procedure by the student, and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action..
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 dual instructional glider flight was being winch launched. The instructor reported there was an apparent cable break, when the glider was approximately 20 feet AGL. The student pilot initially lowered the nose, then returned to a climb attitude. The instructor took control of the glider, and initiated a landing. The landing was hard and the glider sustained substantial damage. The double ring on the glider tow attachment point was found separated.
Factual narrative
On September 4, 1993, at 1130 central daylight time, a Grob G-103, N153SS, sustained substantial damage in a hard landing following a cable break during a winch launch at the Silvercreek Gliderport, New Douglas, Illinois. Neither the certified flight instructor, nor the student pilot were injured. No flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The instructor reported the student was at the controls for the launch. He stated there was an apparent "cable break" about 20 feet AGL. Initially, the student lowered the nose, then tried to re-establish the climb angle. The instructor stated he took the controls at this point and moved the stick forward. He reported the glider struck the ground with the nose down.
The instructor stated the double ring on the glider attachment point separated from the glider.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N153SS
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G-103 Twin Astir (G-103 TWIN)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3094
- Airframe hours
- 208
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Silvercreek Aviation, Ltd.
- Registered owner
- Rodney Lusk
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 4, 1992 · 23 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Silvercreek Gliderport, runway 18, 4,000 × 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
- 51
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 1,679 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,676 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 64 °F
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 N153SS · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.