- Date
- August 8, 2005, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Encinal, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N274DWSchleicher ASW-27b
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- San Antonio FSDO
- FAA report
- 20050808019979A
- Case key
- 62214
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 misjudgment of distance and altitude during a cross-country soaring flight. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the landing.
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 5,635-hour commercial glider pilot encountered poor lift thermal conditions while attempting to fly a cross-country competition flight. The pilot lost lift and decided to turn towards an airfield. As the pilot approached the field it became clear that the airport had been abandoned and was unsuitable for landing. The pilot elected to land on a dirt road. As the glider was touching down a cactus caught the left wing, which turned the glider into a fence. The left wing then came into contact with a fence post and a 180-degree ground loop followed.
Factual narrative
On August 8, 2005, approximately 1700 central daylight time, a Schleicher ASW-27b glider, N274DW, sustained substantial damage during an off-airport landing on a road near Encinal, Texas. The commercial rated glider pilot, sole occupant of the glider, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight originated at the Garner Field Airport (UVA), near Uvalde, Texas, approximately 1300, for a cross-country competition flight, with a minimum enroute time of 4 hours and 30 minutes.
According to the 5,635-hour pilot, while attempting to fly to the Jim Hogg County Airport (HBV), near Hebbronville, Texas, he encountered poor thermal lift conditions and elected to return towards the A P Ranch Airport (TX27), near Encinal, Texas, which was the only airport within gliding distance. As the pilot approached the airfield, it became clear that the ranch airport had been abandoned and was unsuitable for landing. The pilot decided the best landing area was a nearby dirt road. As the glider was touching down, the left wing of the glider collided with a mature cactus, which then turned the glider into a fence. The left wing came into contact with a fence post and a 180-degree ground loop followed.
Photos provided by the pilot, revealed structural damage to the glider when the fuselage broke aft of the cockpit. Additional damage was observed on the control surfaces of the right wing.
At 1656, the automated surface observing system (ASOS) at Laredo International Airport (LRD), near Laredo, Texas, located approximately 28 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, reported winds from 150 degrees at 10 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, a clear sky, temperature 100 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 66 degrees Fahrenheit, and a barometric pressure setting of 29.87 inches of Mercury.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N274DW
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-27b
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 27189
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- David Weaver
- Registered owner
- David Weaver
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- UVA · Uvalde, TX
- Destination
- UVA · Uvalde, TX
- Airport
- TX27 · AP Ranch Airport, runway 14, 3,700 × 50 ft, gravel
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2004
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 5,635 total · 195 in this make and model · 4,835 as pilot in command · 72 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- LRD, 28 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.