- Date
- July 3, 2015, 11:44 local (16:44 UTC)
- Place
- Hartford, WI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N39KGCentrair 101A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Glider tow event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA Milwaukee FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150703010659A
- Case key
- 91548
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 glider pilot's failure to connect the elevator to the elevator control rod during the assembly process, resulting in a loss of control, and a collision with terrain during takeoff.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the glider assembly process, he was distracted several times, and did not connect the elevator to the elevator control rod. He reported that during the takeoff, while being towed by an airplane, there was an "abnormal pitch up." The pilot wrote that he was "rolling left, pitching up, and losing sight of the tow plane" and that he released the tow line. The glider bounced off the ground, impacted a tree line, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that during the glider assembly process, he was distracted several times, and did not connect the elevator to the elevator control rod. He reported that during the takeoff, while being towed by an airplane, there was an "abnormal pitch up." The pilot wrote that he was "rolling left, pitching up, and losing sight of the tow plane" and that he released the tow line. The glider bounced off the ground, impacted a tree line, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39KG
- Reported as
- Centrair 101A (A)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 101A0130
- Built
- 1984
- Airframe hours
- 2,021.3
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Theodore Clausing
- Registered owner
- Theodore Clausing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 3, 2014
- Departed
- HXF · Hartford, WI
- Destination
- HXF · Hartford, WI
- Airport
- HXF · Hartford Muni, runway 18, 2,250 × 196 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Data recorder
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
- 78
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Last flight review
- October 10, 2013
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 4,875 total · 2,016 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.98 inHg
- Observed at
- KETB, 12 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 5, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.