- Date
- April 2, 2023, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Marana, AZ · El Tiro Gliderport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N774JPSchempp-Hirth DISCUS-2B
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 122570
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 landing flare, which resulted in a hard bounced landing in a dust devil.
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
**This report was modified on November 15, 2023. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.** The pilot of the glider reported that, during the landing flare, a dust devil pushed the glider to the ground, causing a hard landing. The glider bounced and then stalled, making another hard impact on the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage cage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N774JP
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth DISCUS-2B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 97
- Built
- 2001
- Airframe hours
- 2,021
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · December 16, 2022
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- AZ67 · El Tiro, runway 26R, 2,000 × 100 ft, dirt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B
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
- 81
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 17,000 total · 0 in this make and model · 15,000 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 12 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KTUS, 28 nm away
- METAR
- KTUS 022253Z VRB03KT 10SM CLR 27/M11 A2994 RMK AO2 SLP106 T02671106
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 17, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.2 MB in all.