- Date
- February 20, 2012, 08:05 local (18:05 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, HI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N103SHBurkhart Grob G-103A Twin II Acro
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Honolulu FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120220003339A
- Case key
- 83128
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 pilot’s inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.
Findings · 2
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
During the landing sequence, the student pilot pushed the control stick of the glider forward just before touchdown. This action resulted in the glider landing hard and bouncing about one foot back into the air. The student pilot then forced the glider onto the runway a second time, after which it bounced about five feet back into the air. In trying to recover from the second bounce, the student pilot forced the glider onto the runway a third time. When the glider again bounced back into the air, it pitched up to a degree such that the aft end of the fuselage contacted the asphalt runway. The student pilot then leveled the glider and allowed it to descend to the runway surface in a near level attitude. Both the composite tail boom and the composite vertical fin were cracked.
Factual narrative
During the landing sequence, the student pilot pushed the control stick of the glider forward just before touchdown. This action resulted in the glider landing hard and bouncing about one foot back into the air. The student pilot then forced the glider onto the runway a second time, after which it bounced about five feet back into the air. In trying to recover from the second bounce, the student pilot forced the glider onto the runway a third time. When the glider again bounced back into the air, it pitched up to a degree that resulted in the aft end of the fuselage coming in contact with the asphalt runway. The student pilot then leveled the glider off and allowed it to descend to the runway surface in a near level attitude. It was later determined that both the composite tail boom and the composite vertical fin were cracked.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N103SH
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob G-103A Twin II Acro
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 34051-K-281
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Hana Hou Air LLC, doing business as Hawaii Glider School
- Registered owner
- Hana Hou Air LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PHDH · Dillingham, HI
- Destination
- PHDH · Dillingham, HI
- Airport
- PHDH · Dillingham Airport, runway 08, 9,007 × 75 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 27 total · 10 in this make and model · 10 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
- 75 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 13, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 624 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.