Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Saratoga County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Saratoga Spring, New York 12866
Saturday, October 24, 1998 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to conduct a local area glider flight. The glider departed the airport, and released from the tow-plane at 3,000 feet MSL. The pilot looked for thermals, but found none. He remained within 2 miles of the airport then decided to abort the flight due to insufficient lift. The pilot made a left downwind entry at 800 feet above the ground, turned base, then final. While on final, the pilot had his hands full just to keep the glider lined-up with the runway because of turbulence. The glider touched down at the intended touchdown point, but bounced back into the air. After the first bounce, the pilot was focusing on maintaining runway alignment that the glider began to oscillate. After contacting the runway a total of four times, the pilot was able to regain control of the glider and complete the landing. An after landing inspection revealed substantial damage to the tail wheel, and tail section of the glider.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the glider while landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/24/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SARATOGA SPRING |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12866 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SARATOGA COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 5B2 |
| 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 | 433 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 171 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 275 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| 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 | 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1216 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 29 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 610 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4446T |
| NTSB Number | NYC99LA017 |
| 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 | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | G103-TWINA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | G103-TWINA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3824 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1279 |
| 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 | Apr 29 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 97 |
| Airframe Hours | 2245 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SARATOGA SOARING ASSOCIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 17 VICHY DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | SARATOGA SPRING |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12866 |
| 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 | 5B2 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1535 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4700 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |