- Date
- November 26, 2010, 12:55 local (20:55 UTC)
- Place
- Warner Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N855BGBurkhart Grob G-103A Twin II Acro
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 12, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20101126053379A
- Case key
- 77880
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 certified flight instructor's inadequate compensation for the crosswind and delayed remedial action during landing, which resulted in a ground loop.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The certified flight instructor (CFI) stated that he was providing instruction to a student pilot in a glider. After a routine local instructional flight, they returned to the departure airport for landing. The student was flying the glider and the CFI was providing verbal instructions to him as they completed a standard traffic pattern to the dirt landing area. He reported that there was a crosswind at 12 knots, gusting to about 20 knots. The glider encountered a high sink rate and the CFI took authority over the controls. The glider ground looped, resulting in substantial damage to the tail. The CFI reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing instruction to a student pilot in a glider. After a routine local instructional flight, they returned to the departure airport for landing. They flew a standard traffic pattern to runway 08R (dirt glider landing area) and the wind was from approximately 100 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to about 20 knots. The student was flying the glider, and the CFI was providing verbal instructions to him. The glider encountered a high sink rate, the CFI took the controls, and the glider ground looped. Post accident examination showed that the tail boom was fractured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N855BG
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G-103A Twin II Acro
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 34017-K-249
- Airframe hours
- 7,248
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Sky Sailing Inc
- Registered owner
- Sky Sailing Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 4, 2010
- Departed
- CL35 · Warner Springs, CA
- Destination
- CL35 · Warner Springs, CA
- Airport
- CL35 · Warner Springs Gliderport, runway 08, 4,700 × 70 ft, dirt
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 30, 2008
- Flight hours
- 10,260 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 10,190 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Front
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- RNM, 19 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 20, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 372 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.