Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ravalli County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hamilton, Montana 59840
Tuesady, July 25, 2000 18:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot returned to his departure airport in the powered glider and entered a left downwind for runway 34. During his approach he decided he was too high and fast and executed a go-around with the intention of executing a 180 degree course reversal and landing on the reciprocal runway. A witness reported that during a high angle of bank turn and climb of about 50 feet, the aircraft entered a stall. The pilot reported that he initiated a recovery but that he 'had insufficient ground clearance to re-establish level flight and impacted the ground.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's entering an inadvertent stall condition during a high angle of bank turn (maneuvering), and the lack of adequate altitude in which to successfully recover before ground impact.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | HAMILTON |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59840 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | RAVALLI COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 6S5 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3638 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 345 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3201 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 39 |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 802 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 25 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27RT |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA144 |
| 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 | Eiriavion Oy |
| Aircraft Model | PIK 20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PIK 20E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20208 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1036 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 14 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 753 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GERARDIS, SCHMIDT, & VALEO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5701 HILLVIEW WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | MISSOULA |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59803 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | VALEO, JAMES G. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 600 COTE LANE |
| Operator City | MISSOULA |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 59808 |
| 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 | 6S5 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | May 11 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |