- Date
- August 11, 2001, 12:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N310GMBlanik L-13
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 1, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20010811021429A
- Case key
- 53004
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 inadvertent lowering of the flaps and her failure to extend the spoilers.
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 glider was a little high as the pilot approached the airport for landing. She pulled the spoiler handle twice and heard what she thought was the sound of the spoilers deploying, but failed to verify it visually. She had actually pulled the flap handle. The glider overshot the runway and she elected to land on a road adjacent to the departure end of the runway. The right wing was severed when the glider struck a tree and ground looped. The empennage was also torn off. The pilot said the flap handle is next to the spoiler handle and they are identical in appearance. The flap handle was found unlocked and half deployed; the spoiler handle was stowed.
Factual narrative
On August 11, 2001, approximately 1250 mountain daylight time, a Blanik L-13, N310GM, was substantially damaged when it collided with a tree and ground looped during landing on a road near Morgan, Utah. The private pilot and her passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Morgan approximately 1220.
The following is based on an FAA inspector's verbal report of a conversation he had with the pilot, and the accident report submitted by the pilot. The glider was a little high as the pilot approached the airport for landing. She pulled the spoiler handle twice and heard what she thought was the sound of the spoilers deploying, but failed to verify it visually. She said she had actually pulled the flap handle. The glider overshot the runway and she elected to land on a road adjacent to the departure end of the runway. The right wing was severed when it struck a tree and the glider ground looped. The empennage was also torn off. The pilot said the flap handle is next to the spoiler handle and they are identical in appearance. The flap handle was found unlocked and half deployed; the spoiler handle was stowed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N310GM
- Reported as
- Blanik L-13
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 025730
- Airframe hours
- 3,228
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wayne Wilkinson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 2000 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- 42U · Morgan, UT
- Airport
- 42U · Morgan County, runway 03, 3,800 × 45 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
- 41
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- October 30, 1999
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 56 total · 5 in this make and model · 33 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- HIF, 13 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.