- Date
- July 23, 2002, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lehi, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N48038Let Blanik L-13
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020723019949A
- Case key
- 55511
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 inadequate in-flight planning resulting in the glider impacting terrain short of the runway, and the pilot's subsequent abrupt handling of the glider when it became airborne again, which resulted in a hard second landing. A contributing factor was the downdraft weather condition.
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 pilot said that he approached the north end of runway 17 for landing. He said "there is a nominal amount of sinking air at all times near the North end of the runway. The day of the incident the sink was far greater than expected." He said that he landed approximately 200 feet short of the runway, and impacted a 3 foot high berm next to an irrigation ditch (which ran perpendicular to the runway) at approximately 50 knots. The glider was "catapulted" over the ditch. The pilot immediately nosed the aircraft down to avoid a stall. "The glider landed flat and hard, crushing the landing gear, then skidding to a halt 75 feet past the runway apron." The glider's keel beam and wing spars were broken.
Factual narrative
On July 23, 2002, at approximately 1400 mountain daylight time, a LET Blanik L-13 glider, N48038, was destroyed during a hard landing at Cedar Valley Airpark (private), Lehi, Utah. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The Associated Glider Club of Southern California, Ltd., was operating the glider under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal local flight which originated approximately 30 minutes before the accident. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.
The pilot said that he approached the north end of runway 17 for landing. He said "there is a nominal amount of sinking air at all times near the North end of the runway. The day of the incident the sink was far greater than expected." He said that he landed approximately 200 feet short of the runway, and impacted a 3 foot high berm next to an irrigation ditch (which ran perpendicular to the runway) at approximately 50 knots. The glider was "catapulted" over the ditch. The pilot immediately nosed the aircraft down to avoid a stall. "The glider landed flat and hard, crushing the landing gear, then skidding to a halt 75 feet past the runway apron." The glider's keel beam and wing spars were broken.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48038
- Reported as
- Let Blanik L-13
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 026047
- Airframe hours
- 1,131
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Brent Davis
- Registered owner
- Assoc. Glider Club of So CA LTD.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 26, 2002
- Departed
- PRIV · Lehi, UT
- Airport
- NONE · Cedar Valley Airpark, runway 17, 4,700 × 75 ft, dirt
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 85 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 11 knots, gusting 16
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 95 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.06 inHg
- Observed at
- SLC, 27 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 10, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 597 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.