Dansville Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Dansville, New York 14437
Saturday, August 15, 1987 13:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PLT STATED THAT AS HE WAS ADJUSTING HIS SEAT BELT WITH THE CANOPY OPEN, THE GLIDER BEGAN BEING PULLED BY THE TOW PILOTS ACFT. HE MANEUVERED THE WING TIP CLEAR OF SOME PARKED ACFT, GRABBED THE CANOPY HATCH, AND HELD IT SHUT DURING THE TKOF. THE COCKPIT CHECK HAD NOT BEEN COMPLETED AND THE DIVE BRAKES WERE UNLOCKED AND INADVERTENTLY LEFT OPEN DURING THE TKOF. WITH THE GLIDER IN THIS CONFIGURATION, IT WOULD NOT CLIMB SO THE TOW PLT CIRCLED THE FLD AND GAVE A MANDATORY WAVE OFF SIGNAL WHILE AT ABT 400 FT. THE GLIDER PLT TURNED 180 DEGREES IN AN EFFORT TO LND DOWNWIND BUT ENTERED A STALL. DURING THE RECOVERY THE LEFT WING COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND. THE GLIDER PLT STATED THAT HE SHOULD HAVE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE BECOMING AIRBORNE. HE HAD OVER 51 HOURS LOGGED IN GLIDERS OF WHICH 6 WERE IN THE LAST 90 DAYS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/15/1987
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City DANSVILLE
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 14437
Event Date Year 1987
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport DANSVILLE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DSV
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 662
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation 1615
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
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) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 2321
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 15 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1650
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 35976
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 2:44PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7653
NTSB Number NYC87LA233
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-1-34
Aircraft Series Identifier SGS-1-34
Aircraft Serial Number
Certified Max Gross Weight 600
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 0
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 2 1986 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1974
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROCHESTER SOARING CLUB
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1249 W. AVE.
Aircraft Owner City HILTON
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 14468
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 301 WHITTIER ROAD
Operator City SPENCERPORT
Operator State NY
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 11459
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
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
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 Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 14
Runway Length 3635
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --