- Date
- December 4, 1994, 13:52 local (18:52 UTC)
- Place
- Blairstown, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N858BGBurkhart Grob 103A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19941204040429A
- Case key
- 38909
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 failure to maintain the proper descent rate.
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 pilot entered the downwind, with his altitude about 100 ft below his desired altitude. On final, he encountered some lift and attempted to continue the descent. The lift also caused the glider to become misaligned with the runway. The pilot was flying from the rear seat with a pilot rated passenger in the front seat. He had difficulty in seeing the runway due to the passenger in the front seat. During the realignment, the glider started to sink and by the time the pilot realized this, the glider was too low to reach the runway. The glider bounced off a small rise prior to the runway. The left wing then struck a small tree and the glider touched down again, with the nose approximately 40 degree left.
Factual narrative
On December 3, 1994, at 1352 eastern standard time, a Grob 103A glider, N858BG, operated by Eastern Mountain Soaring of Blairstown, New Jersey, struck trees while on approach to land at Blairstown Airport. The glider received substantial damage. The two occupants were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight which operated under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot reported this was the second flight of the day. Upon return to the airport, the glider encountered lift on final approach and initially, the glider was high. He had difficulity in getting realigned with the runway due to reduced visibility from a front seat passenger. While he concentrated on his runway lineup, the altitude decreased until the glider was too low to reach the runway. The glider fuselage wheel fuselage wheel struck the top of a hill and then the left wing struck a tree about 3 feet inboard from the tip. The glider yawed nose left and came to rest. The fuselage, aft of the cabin was bent and the left wing was damaged.
The pilot reported he had a total time of 120 hours, and 59 hours in the Grob 103. He had a flight review in the first part of October and had not flown since the flight review.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N858BG
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob 103A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 34016-K-248
- Airframe hours
- 1,198
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Eastern Mountain Soaring
- Registered owner
- David M. Bloch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Provisional (Special); Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 24, 1994 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- 1N7
- Destination
- 1N7 · NJ
- Airport
- 1N7 · Blairstown, runway 25, 3,100 × 100 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 123 total · 25 in this make and model · 59 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N858BG · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.