Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
New Castle Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Castle, Virginia 24123
Sunday, May 15, 1994 14:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT HAD LESS THAN 1 HOUR OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THIS MAKE AND MODEL GLIDER. DURING THE INITIAL CLIMB, BETWEEN 100 AND 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND (AGL), TURBULENCE WAS ENCOUNTERED BY THE TOW PLANE AND THE GLIDER. DURING THE DOWNWIND CLIMB, AT APPROXIMATELY 400 FEET AGL, AND 300 FEET FROM THE EDGE OF THE RUNWAY, THE GLIDER PILOT RELEASED THE TOW. BEFORE REACHING THE END OF THE RUNWAY THE PILOT INITIATED A TURN ONTO THE BASE LEG AND CONTINUED THE TURN TO FINAL. THE PILOT ESTIMATED HIS SINK RATE ON FINAL AT 2600 FEET PER MINUTE. THE GLIDER LANDED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, HIT TRACTOR RUTS, AND SKEWED ABOUT 80 DEGREES TO THE LEFT AND STOPPED SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THEY OBSERVED THE GLIDER SPOILERS DEPLOYED, FROM BASE LEG TO LANDING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE FLIGHT CONTROLS RESULTING IN FAILURE TO MAINTAIN A PROPER DESCENT RATE DURING THE APPROACH FOR LANDING. A FACTOR IN THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE IN THIS TYPE OF GLIDER.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | NEW CASTLE |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24123 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NEW CASTLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VA85 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1320 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1452 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 155 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1176 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 35 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 391 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 16 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23BR |
| NTSB Number | NYC94LA081 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Let |
| Aircraft Model | SUPER BLANIK L-33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SUPER BLAN |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 940208 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 750 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 20 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BLUE RIDGE SOARING SOCIETY INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 122 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALEM |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24153 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1425 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2400 |
| Runway Width | 300 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |