- Date
- May 22, 2000, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pensacola, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N90867Let L-13
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000522006309A
- Case key
- 49257
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's failure to maintain the proper landing pattern altitude resulting in an undershoot during landing and collision with a fence. A factor in the accident was the pilot's failure to realize the spoilers were still deployed during the undershoot.
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
According to the student glider pilot, as well as his CFI who was observing from the ground, his base turn from the downwind leg was made at too low an altitude and too late, relative to his position in the landing pattern, to allow for arrival at the runway with sufficient altitude and airspeed for a safe landing. Contributing to the low and slow condition on final approach was the pilot's failure to realize the spoilers were still deployed. The glider collided with an airport perimeter fence short of the runway causing substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On May 22, 2000, about 1400 central daylight time, a Let Blanik L-13, N90867, registered to the Coastal Soaring Association, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed while attempting a landing in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The glider received substantial damage and the student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from the same airport about 1 hour before the accident.
According to the pilot, he misjudged the point at which he should begin his turn for final approach to Coastal Airport's runway 36, and as a result ended up low and slow short of the runway. He collided with a barbed-wire airport perimeter fence, shearing off the horizontal stabilizer and bending both wing spars.
According to the student's instructor, he observed the glider's entry to the landing pattern and thought the flight's altitude was lower than normal. Instead of adjusting the pattern for the low condition, the student flew the downwind leg for the full length of the runway, resulting in a very low condition on final approach. The CFI stated that the student failed to recognize that the spoilers were deployed.
According to an FAA inspector, the pilot stated he had difficulty seeing the midfield windsock to determine wind conditions, elected to duplicate the tow plane's pattern, and ended up on final approach in a low and slow condition. Examination of the wreckage revealed the spoilers were still in the deployed position as well as the cockpit control handle.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90867
- Reported as
- Let L-13
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 025727
- Airframe hours
- 1,986
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Coastal Soaring Association
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 3, 1999 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- 83J · Pensacola, FL
- Airport
- 83J · Coastal Airport, runway 36, 2,500 × 300 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 46 total · 18 in this make and model · 8 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PNS, 5 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.