Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Edward's Sailplane Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ward, Arkansas 72176
Thursday, July 3, 1997 14:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported that the glider was approaching to land with the landing gear extended at a normal speed and altitude; however, it floated at 6 to 8 feet above the runway. The witnesses stated that the glider's flaps were not deployed which accounted for the glider's extended flight over the runway without a perceived loss of altitude or airspeed. The witnesses further reported that as the glider was approximately 400 feet from the departure end of the east runway, the pilot elected to abort the landing and execute a climbing right turn with approximately 60 degrees bank angle. One witness stated that the glider 'appeared to stall at about 65 feet above the ground and dropped into trees' south of the runway. The 1979 glider was described as a high performance sailplane with a 40:1 glide ratio that relies solely on the flaps for airspeed and altitude control. Three full rotations are required to either extend or retract the flaps. The 19 hour glider pilot discussed 'going counter crank on the flaps' as a factor. The flap crank was not marked as to the direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) required to extend and retract the flaps.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent stall. Factors were the pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point, his failure to use the flaps to obtain the proper touchdown point, and the pilot's lack of recent experience in the type of aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/3/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | WARD |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72176 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | EDWARD'S SAILPLANE RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 350 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1445 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LRF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 311 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 27 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2600 |
| 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) | 504 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 3 1907 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1854 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8032H |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA257 |
| 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 | REIFFER |
| Aircraft Model | RS-15 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | RS-15 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 48 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 740 |
| 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 | Jun 16 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 102 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HARVEY L. BELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30 RIVERVIEW ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | BATESVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72501 |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| 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 | Landing |
| 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 | 9 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |