- Date
- August 8, 1987, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Refugio, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N38826William M. Burge Tern
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 2, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870808043899A
- Case key
- 22214
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
On August 8, 1987, a burge tern, N38826 impacted a transmission wire and subsequently, the terrain while attempting a forced landing to a field approximately 7 miles west of Refugio, Texas. The homebuilt glider had flown approximately 18 miles northwest of Refugio when it encountered a loss of thermal lift and turned back toward Refugio. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The acft was substantially damaged. However, the pilot received only minor injuries.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N38826
- Reported as
- William M. Burge Tern
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- WMB/WTM40-83
- Airframe hours
- 90
- Engine
- Unknown UNKNOWN, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William M. Burge
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 1987 · 1 hours before
- Departed
- RFG · Refugio, TX
- Destination
- RFG · Refugio, TX
- Airport
- RFG · Rooke Field
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 175 total · 90 in this make and model · 142 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 95° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 97 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.