- Date
- June 3, 2006, 12:13 local (19:13 UTC)
- Place
- Llano, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4464PBurkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20060603013529A
- Case key
- 63847
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 student pilot's failure to recover from a porpoise/pilot induced oscillation, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 landed hard on the runway and the empennage fractured from the remainder of the structure. On final approach, the glider entered a pilot induced oscillation. The glider then landed hard on the runway. The student pilot said that the glider did not have any mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight.
Factual narrative
On June 3, 2006, at 1213 Pacific daylight time, a Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir glider, N4464P, landed hard on the runway at Crystal Airport, Llano, California. Great Western Soaring School, Inc., was operating the glider under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The glider sustained substantial damage. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local area instructional flight.
The student pilot stated that as he entered onto the final leg of the traffic pattern, the glider began a pilot induced oscillation. When the glider touched down hard upon the runway, the empennage separated. There were no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider during the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4464P
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3823-K-82
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Great Western Soaring School, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Gemsbok Systems, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 46CN · Llano, CA
- Destination
- 46CN · Llano, CA
- Airport
- 46CN · Crystal Airport, runway 25, 2,700 × 32 ft, dirt
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Student
- Flight hours
- 40 total · 40 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.