- Date
- October 25, 1993, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Antonio, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N94BGBurkhart Grob G103
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 17, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931025041279A
- Case key
- 18960
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 a visual lookout. Factors were: inadequate altitude and distracted attention.
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 pilot said he thought he was 40 feet above the ground when he banked right from base leg to final approach. He said he had been watching the altimeter instead of looking outside. His attention was directed outside the aircraft when he felt the right wing and nose contact the ground. The pilot said later he was 'unfamiliar with the territory and ran out of airspace,' and that the 'altimeter was set wrong.'
Factual narrative
On October 25, 1993, at approximately 1600 central daylight time, N94BG, a Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103, impacted terrain during landing approach to Boerne Stage Field, San Antonio, Texas. The two pilots aboard were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight.
The pilot said he was "unfamiliar with the territory and ran out of airspace. Upon landing, pilot noted altimeter was set wrong."
According to an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot told him he was banking right from base leg to final approach. He said he should have been looking outside, but instead was watching the altimeter. He thought he was 40 feet above the ground when he made the turn. His attention was directed outside the aircraft when he felt the nose and right wing striking the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N94BG
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G103
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3652
- Airframe hours
- 950
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Osprey Soaring School
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 23, 1993 · 88 hours before
- Airport
- 5C1 · Boerne Stage Field, runway 35, 3,400 × 36 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
- 40
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 132 total · 3 in this make and model · 69 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
- 360° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SAT, 16 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.
Other investigations on N94BG · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.