- Date
- May 24, 2006, 12:40 local (17:40 UTC)
- Place
- Cherry Valley, AR
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N751MSAllstar PZL SZD 51-1 Junior
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- FAA report
- 20060524009609A
- Case key
- 63762
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 failure to maintain clearance from a tree while on final to approach to landing. A contributing factor was the loss of thermal lift on final approach.
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
After a glider flight of approximately one hour, the 4,674-hour commercial pilot was on final approach to land to the 3,638-foot long by 300-foot wide grass/turf runway. While on short final, the single-seat composite glider encountered "severe sink" and the left wingtip impacted a tree. The glider "cartwheeled" and came to rest in the upright position on the approach end of the runway 25. The pilot was extricated by rescue personal, who later reported his injuries as minor. No mechanical anomalies were reported with the airplane's flight controls. The pilot reported having accumulated 10 hours in the same make and model, with a total of 31.6 hours in gliders. The reported wind at the nearest airport with a weather reporting station, located about 35 nautical miles north of the accident site, were reported from 220 degrees at 5 knots, gusting to 12 knots. The pilot recommended that glider pilots use an "aim point" at least 800 feet further down the runway when landing in the future.
Factual narrative
After a glider flight of approximately one hour, the 4,674-hour commercial pilot was on final approach to land to the 3,638-foot long by 300-foot wide grass/turf runway. While on short final, the single-seat composite glider encountered "severe sink" and the left wingtip impacted a tree. The glider "cartwheeled" and came to rest in the upright position on the approach end of the runway 25. The pilot was extricated by rescue personal, who later reported his injuries as minor. No mechanical anomalies were reported with the airplane's flight controls. The pilot reported having accumulated 10 hours in the same make and model, with a total of 31.6 hours in gliders. The reported wind at the nearest airport with a weather reporting station, located about 35 nautical miles north of the accident site, were reported from 220 degrees at 5 knots, gusting to 12 knots. The pilot recommended that glider pilots use an "aim point" at least 800 feet further down the runway when landing in the future.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N751MS
- Reported as
- Allstar PZL SZD 51-1 Junior
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 511.A.03.004
- Airframe hours
- 144
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Memphis Soaring Society
- Registered owner
- Friends Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2006
- Departed
- 4AR5 · Cherry Valley, AR
- Airport
- 4AR5 · Lawrence Field Gliderport, runway 25, 3,900 × 300 ft, grass/turf
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
- 51
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 4,674 total · 10 in this make and model · 4,465 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots, gusting 12
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 63 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.