- Date
- April 3, 1990, 18:15 local (Apr 4, 1990, 00:15 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2048TSchweizer SGS 2-33A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900403007749A
- Case key
- 17913
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
Separation of the tow rope and the pilot's failure to establish an appropriate descent rate as he returned to land. Contributing to the accident were the tailwind and the unsuitable terrain for landing beyond the runway end.
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 private pilot with solo endorsement for gliders, reported that the tow line broke at 650 feet AGL during initial climb. He elected to return for a downwind landing but overshot the runway. He planned an approach to rough terrain off the airport. During touchdown flare, the right wing struck a tree and the plane slewed to the right, struck a dirt embankment, and came to rest with the tail on a fence. The right wing was broken seven feet from the tip, the nose cone was crushed, and the elevators and fuselage were bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2048T
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 2-33A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 478
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Crater Soaring, Inc.
- Departed
- 42U
- Destination
- 42U
- Airport
- 42U · Morgan Co., runway 3, 3,800 × 50 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 216 total · 2 in this make and model · 188 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.