Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Green River Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Green River, Utah 84525
Thursday, June 11, 1998 12:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the co-owner of the glider, the pilot was given an auto-tow launch from the runway and he believed that the pilot released at approximately 700 feet agl. The co-owner observed the glider circling southwest of the runway, but was losing altitude. The pilot stated that he encountered 'heavy sink almost immediately after tow release.' The co-owner further observed the glider fly over the runway, but 'was too high too land straight ahead.' The pilot further reported that 'he turned left to return to the runway and the glider began to rotate left.' The pilot said that he 'got the right rudder in and the rotation stopped within 90 degrees.' The co-owner stated that 'an apparent wind gust from above or behind caused the glider to nose down.' The pilot stated that 'just as the rotation stopped, the left wing tip impacted the ground.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed. Factor's were the unforecasted weather (tail wind) and the inadvertent stall/spin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/11/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | GREEN RIVER |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84525 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GREEN RIVER |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U34 |
| 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 | 4225 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 100 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 5 |
| 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) | 746 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 11 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1536 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N511M |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA262 |
| 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 | Rolladen-Schneider |
| Aircraft Model | LS-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | LS-6A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1157 |
| 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 | Jan 1 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 55 |
| Airframe Hours | 915 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WALTER J. LAFFORD II |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5540 S. JELLISON ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LITTLETON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80123 |
| 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 | U34 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVC |
| Destination City | PRICE |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 5600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |