Herlong Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jacksonville, Florida 32210
Saturday, May 6, 2000 14:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot stated that he was performing steep turns to dissipate altitude and land, but ended up being low, with wires impeding his path of flight. The student further stated that as he maneuvered to avoid the wires, the glider lost lift, and fell towards the ground. The student said he then lowered the nose to avoid landing empennage first, but during the landing the glider was damaged. An FAA inspector examined the accident aircraft, and stated that during the landing the left wing hit a tree and the spar was damaged.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's misjudgment of the aircraft's altitude and subsequent maneuver to avoid an obstacle, that resulted in a loss of airspeed, an inadvertent stall, and an inflight loss of control, which resulted in damage to the aircraft during landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/6/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City JACKSONVILLE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32210
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport HERLONG
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 23J
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 87
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1453 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 70
Weather Observation Facility ID CRG
Elevation of weather observation facility 42
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
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) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1300
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) 366
NTSB Notification Source FAA ATL. Comm. Center
NTSB Notification Date May 6 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Mar 4 2001 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5738S
NTSB Number MIA00LA148
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 SGS 2-33
Aircraft Series Identifier SGS 2-33
Aircraft Serial Number 80
Certified Max Gross Weight 1040
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 May 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2841
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name NORTH FLORIDA SOARING SOCIETY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4353 BLACKJACK ALLEY
Aircraft Owner City JACKSONVILLE
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 32210
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 23J
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
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 Mar 4 2001 7:08AM
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 --