Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marion, Ohio 43302
Sunday, May 4, 1997 12:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
With the owner at the flight controls, the experimental homebuilt glider was under tow to take it to another airport. Witnesses reported that about 1 minute after departure, the glider entered into a series of divergent pitch oscillations which terminated in a near vertical dive into a field. The tow rope separated during the oscillations. According to an FAA report, '...The rod end of the elevator/aileron control stick was found pulled out of push rod. The meal casing that the rod end fitted into was crushed. The rod end contained 1 fastener (rivet) core with signs of fretting and scoring, with the remaining attaching fastener core missing....' The last annual inspection was performed in August 1995. The glider was operated on an FAA special flight permit, which required either an inspection by an aircraft mechanic or a repair shop before the flight. No record of the inspection was found by the FAA inspectors.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Disconnection of the elevator control rod which resulted in the loss of elevator control. A factor was failure to complete the required maintenance inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/4/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MARION |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43302 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1297 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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) | 797 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 4 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2002 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8711R |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA085 |
| 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 | Marsh-Turner |
| Aircraft Model | BG-12A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BG-12A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12035 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 606 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 24 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 988 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARK A. SAVAGE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 218147 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUMBUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43221 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MNN |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1239 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CMH |
| Destination City | COLUMBUS |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| 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 | -- |