Littlefield Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Littlefield, Texas 79339
Saturday, July 16, 1994 17:35 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

WITNESSES SAID THE PILOT COMPLETED A GLIDER COMPETITION LOW AND SLOW AT THE FINISH. THE PILOT TURNED LEFT ONTO THE DOWNWIND LEG, FOLLOWED BY A STEEP LEFT TURN AND NOSE PITCH DOWN. IMPACT OCCURRED NOSE LOW STILL TURNING LEFT.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

AN INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS WERE LOW ALTITUDE AND AIRSPEED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DOWNWIND TURN.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/16/1994
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1735
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City LITTLEFIELD
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 79339
Event Date Year 1994
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LITTLEFIELD MUNICIPAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Q00
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 3614
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 104
Weather Observation Facility ID LBB
Elevation of weather observation facility 3281
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 33
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 12
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 21
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 5869
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 776
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 16 1994 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2000 11:43AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N33915
NTSB Number FTW94LA237
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 SCHWEIZER
Aircraft Model SGS 1-26E
Aircraft Series Identifier SGS 1-26E
Aircraft Serial Number 625
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Apr 22 1994 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 13
Airframe Hours 475
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LATHROP, GAYLE P.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 238
Aircraft Owner City FREEBURG
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 17827
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 1400
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Sep 28 2001 5:09PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --