Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eustis, Florida 32726
Saturday, July 12, 1997 15:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was tracking northward, when the pilot said he experienced 'minimal lift' at an altitude of about 4,000 feet mean sea level (msl). A ground witness said there was a cumulus cloud in the vicinity just before the accident. The pilot said that when he got near the cloud the lift increased, at first to about 300 feet per minute (fpm), then to about 600 fpm. As the glider passed 4,000 feet msl, there was a rapid rate of increase to over 1,000 fpm. The pilot estimated that the glider climbed from 4,000 feet msl to about 6,200 feet msl in about 20 seconds. At peak altitude the right wing separated from the glider, at the root. The pilot said he believed the wing separated upward, and made contact with the top of the canopy. He attempted numerous combinations of control imputes. The glider yawed, rolled and pitched with little response to the controls, and finally became upright in a high yaw rate condition. The glider impacted in a thick stand of 80-to 100-foot tall pine trees. The reported cloud bases at the time of the accident were reported to be 4,300 feet msl. The floor of the Class B airspace was 3,000 feet msl at the location of the accident, and the aircraft was operating at the time of the accident without gyro instruments. A section of the right wing front spar was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, DC, for examination. The examination revealed that the fracture features and deformations were all consistent with 'overstress separations.' No evidence of fatigue or any type of cracking was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an in-flight separation of the right wing, and subsequent impact with trees. Factors in this accident were thermal lift and turbulence in clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | EUSTIS |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32726 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| 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) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 598 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9927J |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA211 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | SGS-1-26B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | SGS-1-26B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 346 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 600 |
| 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 | Dec 1 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DIANE C. BLAKE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 529 BRYN MAWR ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ORLANDO |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32804 |
| 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 | X55 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |