- Date
- October 14, 2011, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Benton, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1339XIca Brasov IS-29D2
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20111014022999A
- Case key
- 82071
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 improper in-flight planning, which resulted in a low-altitude traffic pattern entry and subsequent collision with telephone wires.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot of the glider stated that he was returning to the airport at the conclusion of a 1.5-hour flight. The pilot approached the airport at a slow airspeed and a lower-than-normal altitude due to a misinterpretation of the altimeter reading. The pilot continued the approach for landing, and the glider struck telephone wires on the final leg of the traffic pattern. The glider sustained substantial damage to the wing spar and tailboom. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the glider.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the glider stated that he was returning to the airport at the conclusion of a one-and-a-half hour flight, and approached the airport at a low altitude and slow airspeed. The pilot continued the approach for landing, and struck a telephone wire on the final leg of the traffic pattern. The glider sustained substantial damage to the wing spar and tail boom. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the glider.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1339X
- Reported as
- Ica Brasov IS-29D2
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 92
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Tampa Bay Soaring Society
- Registered owner
- Tampa Bay Soaring Society
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 92A · Benton, TN
- Destination
- 92A · Benton, TN
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- 92A · Chilhowee Gliderport, runway 03, 2,600 × 200 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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- October 1, 2011
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 3,000 total · 67 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 13 knots, gusting 28
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.86 inHg
- Observed at
- CHA, 32 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 4, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 351 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.