- Date
- May 26, 2014, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Cedar Valley, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N137EDSchleicher ASW 27
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Case key
- 89289
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 aircraft control during the takeoff roll, which resulted in inadvertent terrain contact by the wing.
Findings · 3
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 pilot reported that while being towed behind a tow airplane for takeoff, there was a slight drop of the right wing. The pilot corrected with aileron control to level the wings and at this point, the left wing may have come in contact with the grass on the runway, which provided enough drag to turn the glider 180 degrees to the left. During the turn, the safety link released. The glider then rolled backwards before coming to rest. Postaccident examination of the left wing revealed that the left aileron was substantially damaged and had separated from its mounts in the wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that while being towed behind a tow airplane for takeoff, there was a slight drop of the right wing. The pilot corrected with aileron control to level the wings and at this point, the left wing may have come in contact with the grass on the runway, which provided enough drag to turn the glider 180 degrees to the left. During the turn, the safety link released. The glider then rolled backwards before coming to rest. Postaccident examination of the left wing revealed that the left aileron was substantially damaged and had separated from its mounts in the wing. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N137ED
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW 27
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 27102
- Built
- 1999
- Airframe hours
- 627
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Urbanczyk Kirk M
- Registered owner
- Urbanczyk Kirk M
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 19, 2014
- Departed
- UT10 · Cedar Valley, UT
- Destination
- UT10 · Cedar Valley, UT
- Airport
- UT10 · Cedar Valley, runway 17, 5,000 × 75 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 13, 2013
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 19,800 total · 94 in this make and model · 127 in the last 90 days · 36 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KPVU, 17 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 20, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 MB in all.