- Date
- March 11, 2007, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Williams, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N273WSchleicher ASW-27B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 27, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20070311005919A
- Case key
- 65422
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 misjudged distance/altitude and delay in retracting the spoilers that led to an undershoot, which resulted in a collision with terrain.
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 touched down short of the runway and ground looped during landing. The pilot returned to the airport after he couldn't find any lift. He encountered some sink on his base and final legs. He felt that he didn't retract his spoilers soon enough to prevent his landing just short of the paved runway. The glider ground looped, which broke off the tail boom. The pilot made a recommendation regarding prevention of the accident. He noted that this was an uneventful day, which could lull one into not paying full attention to all phases of flight. The runway was more than long enough to allow him to land 1/4 of the way down the runway, which would have provided a much larger safety margin for his landing.
Factual narrative
On March 11, 2007, about 1500 Pacific daylight time, a Schleicher ASW-27B, N273W, ground looped during landing at Williams, California. The pilot/owner was operating the glider under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot was not injured; the glider sustained substantial damage. The local personal flight departed Williams about 1415. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The pilot stated in a written report that he returned to the airport after he couldn't find any lift. He encountered some sink on his base and final legs. He felt that he didn't retract his spoilers soon enough to prevent his landing just short of the paved runway. The glider ground looped, which broke off the tail boom.
The pilot made a recommendation regarding prevention of the accident. He noted that this was an uneventful day, which could fool one into not paying full attention to all phases of flight. The runway was more than long enough to allow him to land 1/4 of the way down the runway, which would have provided a much larger safety margin for his landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N273W
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-27B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 27192
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fred J. Dwyer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- Williams, CA
- Destination
- Williams, CA
- Airport
- Q12 · Williams Glider Port, runway 35, 2,500 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 640 total · 200 in this make and model · 540 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- SMF, 37 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.