- Date
- August 19, 1995, 17:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Mayville, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N69ASLet Blanik L-13
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 8, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950819049289A
- Case key
- 39034
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 improper flight control input during the landing roll in high grass, which resulted in a ground loop and subsequent wingtip damage.
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 stated, '...I noticed a small plane moving down runway 31. I was intending to land on 13....I landed in the high grass west of the runway, about 10 feet from the edge of the runway....not wanting to roll across the runway into the powerlines, ditch, or road, I applied full right rudder and deployed my spoilers. I hadn't noticed that my right wing had not yet cleared the high grass....my wingtip dipped, caught in ground and damaged glider. The sole cause of the damage to the glider was the ground loop instigated by my applying rudder while wing was still in grass...' Additionally, the student pilot had a total time of about 18 hours, of which 1 hour was solo time.
Factual narrative
On August 19, 1995, about 1745 eastern daylight time, a Let Blanik L-13, glider, N69AS, operated by Aero Soaring Club Inc., was substantially damaged when it ground looped during the landing at the Dart Airport, Mayville, New York. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight that departed Mayville at 1705. No flight plan had been filed for the local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated:
...I noticed a small plane moving down runway 31. I was intending to land on 13....I altered my base leg, hoping to cut back and land halfway down the runway, thus landing behind the small plane. I landed in the high grass west of the runway, about 10 feet from the edge of the runway....Not wanting to roll across the runway into the powerlines, ditch, or road, I applied full right rudder and deployed my spoilers. I hadn't noticed that my right wing had not yet cleared the high grass west of runway....The glider did a 180 degree turn....My wingtip dipped, caught in ground and damaged glider. The sole cause of the damage to the glider was the ground loop instigated by my applying rudder while wing was still in grass....
Additionally, at the time of the accident, the winds were reported as calm, and the pilot had approximately 18 hours of total flight time, of which 1 hour was solo time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69AS
- Reported as
- Let Blanik L-13 (BLANIK L-1)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 026941
- Airframe hours
- 1,045
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aero Soaring Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 1995 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- D79
- Airport
- D79 · Dart Airport, runway 13, 2,750 × 50 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
- 29
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 18 total · 1 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.