- Date
- May 21, 1995, 14:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Hempstead, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N15DPPurdy HP-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 24, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950521012129A
- Case key
- 19427
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 poor in flight planning/decision. The lack of thermal lift was a factor.
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 glider began descending due to the lack of thermal lifting. When the glider had descended below 1000 feet above ground level (AGL), the pilot made the decision to make a landing to an open field. During the landing roll the glider's left wing struck a hay bale, causing substantial damage to the wing. The pilot stated in the pilot/operator report that this accident could have been prevented by having 'a landing spot and pattern set up prior to descending below 1000 feet AGL.'
Factual narrative
On May 21, 1995, at 1445 central daylight time, a Purdy HP-18, N15DP, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Hempstead, Texas. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local personal flight.
The pilot reported the following information to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector. The glider began descending due to the lack of thermal lifting. When the glider had descended below 1000 feet above ground level (AGL), the pilot made the decision to make a landing to an open field. During the landing roll the glider's left wing struck a hay bale, causing substantial damage to the wing.
The pilot stated in the Pilot/Operator Report that this accident could have been prevented by having "a landing spot and pattern set up prior to descending below 1000 feet AGL."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N15DP
- Reported as
- Purdy HP-18
- Category
- Glider, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 47
- Airframe hours
- 588
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Myron G. Haley
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 15, 1995 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 3,900 total · 5 in this make and model · 3,800 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.