Fremont County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Canon City, Colorado 81212
Friday, July 17, 1998 13:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The glider was launched by a ground vehicle. After achieving an altitude of 850 feet agl, the pilot disconnected the tow rope and turned into the traffic pattern for landing. While on a left downwind leg at an altitude of 650 feet, he demonstrated a stall to his passenger, losing approximately 75 feet. A 500 foot per minute sink rate developed, and the pilot decided to cut short the downwind and base legs. The sink rate continued to increase and he lowered the nose to maintain a safe airspeed. When he deployed the spoilers, the glider landed short and the main landing gear struck the runway lip.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudgment of distance/altitude and his premature deployment of the spoilers, resulting in a undershoot and hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/17/1998
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City CANON CITY
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81212
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FREMONT COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 1V6
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 5439
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1154 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 92
Weather Observation Facility ID PUB
Elevation of weather observation facility 4726
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
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) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 6986
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 1
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 418
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 20 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1113
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9920J
NTSB Number FTW98LA323
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 Schweizer
Aircraft Model SGU 2-22E
Aircraft Series Identifier SGU 2-22E
Aircraft Serial Number 248
Certified Max Gross Weight 900
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 2
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
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 DOMINIK STROBEL
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 1971
Aircraft Owner City FAIRFIELD
Aircraft Owner State IA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 52556
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name FLIGHT TRAINING ADVENTURE CAMP
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 1V6
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1225
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 1V6
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 11
Runway Length 5399
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --