- Date
- May 23, 1998, 15:18 local (20:18 UTC)
- Place
- Briggs, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N427BGBurkhart Grob 103
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980523015449A
- Case key
- 20628
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 misjudgment of the distance and altitude. Factors were the lack of thermal lift and his diverted attention while on downwind.
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 pilot had released the glider from the tow plane prematurely at 1,500 feet MSL due to conflicting traffic. After 'thermalling with another glider for a while, he could not find much lift,' so he headed back to the airport to land. The pilot added that he was too low when he entered the downwind leg for runway 16; however, he estimated that he would be able to reach the approach end of the runway. In a written statement, he stated that he became distracted by a yellow glider that he thought was blocking the landing runway. The pilot reported that while maneuvering to land at the threshold for the 4,500-foot turf runway, he turned the aircraft onto the base leg prematurely; consequently the left wing impacted the ground nearly perpendicular to the runway near the threshold. Subsequently, the glider impacted the ground in a nose low attitude, bounced back in the air and impacted the ground in a tail low attitude, separating the tail section.
Factual narrative
On May 23, 1998, at 1518 central daylight time, a Grob 103 glider, N427BG, was substantially damaged when it undershot the runway while landing near Briggs, Texas. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. The glider was owned and operated by Fault Line Flyers, Inc., of Round Rock, Texas, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed throughout the area for the local flight for which a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from the Fault Line Flyers Gliderport (TX23) near Briggs, Texas, approximately 10 minutes prior to the accident.
According to the pilot, he released the glider from the tow plane prematurely at 1,500 feet MSL due to conflicting traffic. After "thermalling with another glider for a while, he could not find much lift," so he headed back to the airport to land. The pilot added that he was too low when he entered the downwind leg for runway 16; however, he estimated that he would be able to reach the approach end of the runway. In a written statement submitted by the pilot, he stated that he became distracted by a yellow glider that he thought was blocking the runway.
The pilot reported that while maneuvering to land at the threshold for the 4,500 foot turf runway, he turned the aircraft on to the base leg prematurely; consequently, the left wing impacted the ground nearly perpendicular to the runway near the threshold. Subsequently, the glider impacted the ground in a nose low attitude, bounced back in the air and impacted the ground in a tail low attitude, separating the tail section from the airframe.
Examination of the aircraft by the FAA inspector confirmed that the left wing and the tail section of the 1982 model glider sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N427BG
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob 103
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3739
- Airframe hours
- 4,251
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Rich Sheafer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 14, 1998 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- TX23
- Airport
- TX23 · Fault Line Flyers, runway 16, 4,500 × 250 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 199 total · 5 in this make and model · 90 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.