Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wauchula, Florida 33873
Sunday, March 2, 1997 16:46 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The home built, powered glider was being flown on a flight to conduct a stall test at 3,000 feet. A witness observed the powered sailplane flying westbound at low altitude. According to the witness, the powered sailplane entered an abrupt turn to the east, then it started rotating to the left in a descent until it disappeared from view below a tree line. Examination of the crash site revealed evidence that the powered sailplane collided with the ground in a near vertical descent, 10-degree nose-up attitude, with no evidence of forward motion, rotating around its vertical axis to the left. Examination of the airframe, flight control assembly, engine assembly, and accessories revealed no evidence of a precrash mechanical failure or malfunction. The powered sailplane had accumulated about 4 hours of flight time, since it was built.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin and subsequent collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1646 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WAUCHULA |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33873 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 130 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 2 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1201G |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA091 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hackett |
| Aircraft Model | WINDEX 1200C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | WINDEX 12 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 694 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 12 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 4 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RUSSEL F. HACKETT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1203 WINDWARD |
| Aircraft Owner City | OSPREY |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34229 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LARS R. BERGSTROM |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1121 LEWIS AVENUE |
| Operator City | SARASOTA |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 34237 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FDO6 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1558 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FD06 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |