- Date
- August 23, 1999, 15:10 local (22:10 UTC)
- Place
- Llano, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8013KBurkhart Grob G 103 Twin II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 14, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990823025569A
- Case key
- 47233
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 encounter with a sudden and violent dust devil, which caused the student pilot to lose control of the aircraft during the landing flare/touchdown.
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
As the student pilot began his landing flare approximately 10 feet above the runway surface, he observed a dust devil move onto the runway directly in front of him. He applied down elevator control but the glider ascended about 50 feet above the ground into the dust devil. The glider stalled and landed hard on the runway, then ground looped. Ground witnesses observed a 'large and violent dust devil' touching down on the runway in the path of the landing glider just as it was in the landing flare.
Factual narrative
On August 23, 1999, at 1510 hours Pacific daylight time, a Burkhart Grob G 103 Twin II, N8013K, landed hard after encountering a dust devil while landing at the Crystal Gliderport in Llano, California. The glider, operated by Great Western Soaring School, Llano, was substantially damaged. The student glider pilot, who held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single engine land rating, was not injured. The local area instructional flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and had originated from the Crystal Gliderport at 1349. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that he was preparing to land on runway 25, and that the tetrahedron indicated the wind was coming straight down the runway. As he was flaring approximately 10 feet above the runway surface, he observed a dust devil move onto the runway directly in front of him. He applied down elevator control but the glider ascended about 50 feet above the ground into the dust devil. The pilot stated that the glider stalled and landed hard on the runway numbers. The glider's right wing tip caught on the ground and the glider ground looped 180 degrees on the runway. During this process, the empennage broke off at the aft fuselage boom just forward of the fin. The tail wheel and nose wheel tires blew out.
Ground witnesses provided statements that were consistent in the observation that a "large and violent dust devil" touched down on the runway in the path of the landing glider just as it was in the landing flare.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8013K
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G 103 Twin II (G 103 TWIN)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3702
- Airframe hours
- 884
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Great Western Soaring School
- Registered owner
- Douglas Turner
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 5, 1999 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- L01
- Airport
- L01 · Crystal Gliderport, runway 25, 4,500 × 250 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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 136 total · 13 in this make and model · 28 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 21 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PMD, 16 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.