Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wurtsboro, New York 12790
Monday, September 4, 2000 12:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to takeoff the glider pilot observed 'dark clouds' to the west of the airport. Additionally, the tow plane pilot pointed to the clouds prior to takeoff. The glider pilot 'did not feel that the clouds were moving all that fast,' and elected to depart. The glider was towed to an altitude of 2,500 feet and released. About 1 minute later, the glider pilot noticed that it was 'suddenly much darker, and the clouds had quickly moved over the airport west to east.' He also began to experience some light rain, and intended to return to the airport for landing. The pilot stated that while entering the traffic pattern for landing, 'the rain got so heavy that I had no visibility forward.' While on final approach for landing, the glider began to impact trees. The glider veered to the left and pitched down towards the ground. The glider came to rest in the trees, about 300 feet from the runway threshold. The pilot did not report any mechanical problems with the glider. The pilot reported 34 hours of total flight experience, all in gliders.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper weather evaluation and decision to initiate a flight with an approaching rain shower. A factor in this accident was heavy rain, which reduced visibility.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1225 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | WURTSBORO |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12790 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | WURTSBORO-SULLIVAN COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N82 |
| 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 | 560 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1219 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MGJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 365 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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 | 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) | 564 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 6 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N48037 |
| NTSB Number | NYC00LA251 |
| 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 | Let |
| Aircraft Model | BLANIK L-13 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BLANIK L-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 026022 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1102 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 27 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 1310 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LONG ISLAND SOARING ASSOC INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1247 LEDNAM CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | MERRICK |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11566 |
| 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 | N82 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| 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 | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 21 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 3593 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |