- Date
- May 12, 2007, 14:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Alamogordo, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N991JBCentrair 101C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards District Office
- FAA report
- 20070512020199A
- Case key
- 65868
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 inability to control the glider after encountering the downdraft causing the glider to land short of the dirt strip. Factors contributing to the accident were the downdraft and the runway marker.
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 pilot was landing on a dirt strip that parallels the main runway. Surface winds were "light." Approximately 25 to 50 feet above the ground, the pilot encountered a "heavy sink" and realized he was probably going to touch down in a ditch perpendicular to the dirt strip. The glider touched down at the far end of the ditch. The right wing dropped and struck a runway marker causing substantial damage to glider. The glider spun around and came to a stop 120 to 150 feet from the marker.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing on the dirt strip that parallels runway 21. Surface winds were "light." Approximately 25 to 50 feet above the ground, the pilot encountered "heavy sink" and realized he was probably going to touch down in a ditch perpendicular to the dirt strip. The glider touched down at the far end of the ditch. The right wing dropped and struck a runway marker. The glider spun around and came to a stop 120 to 150 feet from the marker. The pilot reported no anomalies with the glider prior to the accident. He reported finding a 2 ft. x 2 ft. hole in the right wing leading edge, and several stress cracks and skin delamination on the top and bottom surfaces of the wing. The tail wheel was severed from the fuselage and bent. He said, "wing spar damage and internal fuselage damage were likely."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N991JB
- Reported as
- Centrair 101C
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 101901
- Airframe hours
- 1,074
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Frank A. McVay
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 1, 2007
- Departed
- ALM · Alamogordo, NM
- Destination
- ALM
- Airport
- ALM · White Sands Regional
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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2005
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 358 total · 11 in this make and model · 316 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °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 N991JB · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.