# NTSB FTW97LA201: Centrair 101C, N991JB, Santa Fe, NM, May 25, 1997 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: May 25, 1997, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC) - Place: Santa Fe, NM - Location: 35.6870° N, 105.9378° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Santa Fe, NM, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.6870&lon=-105.9378&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report December 15, 1997 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 20227 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=FTW97LA201 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/20227/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW97LA201 ## Probable cause the pilot's improper planning/decison. Factors relating to the accident were: lack of thermal lift, which resulted in an off-airport landing, and the lack of suitable terrain for the landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Miscellaneous/other, cruise - weather condition - no thermal lift (contributing factor) - On ground/water collision with object, landing - planning/decision - improper, pilot in command (cause) - terrain condition - none suitable (contributing factor) - terrain condition - roadway/highway - object - wall/barricade (contributing factor) ## Analysis Initially, strong thermal conditions prevailed on the proposed 500 km cross-country glider flight; however, conditions began to weaken, and the pilot amended his destination twice. The conditions continued to deteriorate, and when the glider reached an altitude of 1,500 feet agl, the pilot determined that an off-airport landing was inevitable. He selected a highway as the only available landing area due to numerous trees in the surrounding terrain. The glider touched down, and during rolled-out, the wings settled onto the highway guardrails. At a speed of about 10 mph, the glider's nose turned left, and the fuselage contacted the left guardrail. ## Factual narrative On May 25, 1997, about 1400 mountain daylight time, a Centrair 101C glider, N991JB, was substantially damaged when it collided with a guardrail during a forced landing on a highway approximately 21 miles southeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The private pilot, sole occupant of the glider, was not injured. The glider was registered to and operated by the pilot under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight that originated from Moriarty, New Mexico, about 1230. In a written statement, the pilot reported that he planned a 500 km trip to Colorado. Initially, the flight encountered thermal conditions in the Moriarty area that were "extremely strong, showing thermal strength in the range from 1000 to 1500 feet per minute." However, upon reaching a point approximately 30 miles north of Moriarty, the pilot "noticed a considerable weakening of conditions" and decided to make his destination the Santa Fe County Municipal Airport in Santa Fe, New Mexico, located "about 20 miles away." The pilot "attempted several times to penetrate towards" Santa Fe, but "encountered strong sink" each time. While making these attempts, the glider was "blown east" by westerly winds. Thermal "conditions to the east looked acceptable" to the pilot, and he elected to "have the wind drift" the glider towards the Las Vegas Municipal Airport in Las Vegas, New Mexico, located "[approximately] 40 miles east." As the glider drifted east, the pilot "noticed that the average lift was gradually decreasing and the top of the lift was slowly coming down." As he "fought the deteriorating conditions," the pilot "looked for suitable land out areas." When the glider reached an altitude of 1,500 feet agl, the pilot "decided that a land-out might be inevitable" and began planning an approach to land on the southbound lanes of Interstate 25. According to the pilot, he selected the highway as the only available landing area due to numerous trees in the surrounding terrain. The glider touched down in a gap in traffic and "settled with both wings on the guardrails sliding forward." At a speed of "about 10 mph," the nose of the glider turned left, and the "fuselage slid slowly into the left guard rail." The FAA inspector who examined the glider reported that a crack midway between the canopy and the empennage extended around 3/4 of the fuselage's circumference, and the trailing edge of the left wing was delaminated. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N991JB](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N991JB-2013-06-27), registration cancelled 2013-06-27, S/N 101901, built 1983 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Centrair 101C - Registry model: [Centrair 101C](https://openairdocs.org/model/centrair-101c) (registry code 1990105) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [NONE](https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (registry code 00000, none) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Glider - Serial number: 101901 - Airframe hours: 1035 - Engines: unknown - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Egbert Kahl - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Departed: 0E0, MORIARTY, NM - Destination: LVS, LAS VEGAS, NM ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 48; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: center; flight hours: 323 total, 200 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 270° at 20 knots, gusting 25 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 4,000 ft broken - Temperature: 75 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19970525012909A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970525012909A), May 25, 1997: Cntrar 101ACENTR, Santa Fe, NM, Substantial damage. Struck guardrail landing on a highway. Lost thermals on crosscountry. Tried for alternate. Landed on I25 instead. (-23) glider departed moriarty airport at 130… ## Other investigations on N991JB (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB DEN07CA092](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN07CA092), May 12, 2007: Centrair 101C (N991JB), Alamogordo, NM, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's inability to control the glider after encountering the downdraft causing the glider to land short of the dirt strip. Factors contributing to the accident were the downdraft and the runway… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.