North Raleigh Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Louisburg, North Carolina 27549
Saturday, August 12, 1995 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE GLIDER INSTRUCTOR STATED THAT, DURING THE TURN FROM BASE TO FINAL APPROACH, HE ENCOUNTERED A DOWN DRAFT. HE STATED THAT HE COULD NOT ARREST THE AIRCRAFT DESCENT PRIOR TO IMPACTING THE TREES ADJACENT TO THE RUNWAY. THE TEMPERATURE WAS 33 DEGREES CELSIUS, AND THE DENSITY ALTITUDE OF THE AIRPORT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS 2,762 FEET.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight instructor's improper in-flight planning and decision, in that he failed to maintain sufficient altitude to clear the trees surrounding the airport, and failed to take into consideration the high density altitude at the time of the accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/12/1995
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City LOUISBURG
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 27549
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport NORTH RALEIGH AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OONC
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 340
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID RDU
Elevation of weather observation facility 437
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 2762
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1011
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 12 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1653
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7592
NTSB Number ATL95LA155
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 233A
Aircraft Series Identifier 233A
Aircraft Serial Number 192
Certified Max Gross Weight 1040
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 2
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 30 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 12
Airframe Hours 3200
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CAROLINA GLIDING
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 703
Aircraft Owner City LOUISBURG
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27549
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 00NC
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 5
Runway Length 2650
Runway Width 36
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --