Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Williams Glider Port Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Williams, California 95987
Saturday, April 14, 2001 12:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the takeoff, the glider began an uncontrolled climb at a 45-degree nose up attitude behind the tow plane. The tow plane pilot was forced to cut the tow rope due to the severe pitch down moment caused by the glider. The glider then arced over into a 45-degree nose down dive and hit the ground. The glider's flight control system was equipped with Hotalier quick disconnect fittings at various locations to facilitate the disassembly of the glider for trailer transport. A postaccident examination of the flight control system disclosed that the elevator control push rod was disconnected from the elevator at a quick disconnect fitting in the vertical stabilizer. There was no damage noted to the elevator bell crank or the terminal end of the elevator control push rod. A close friend and former partner in the glider was interviewed. He was present on the day of the accident and knew the pilot very well. He stated that he and the pilot had purchased the glider a little less than a year prior to the accident. The pilot had flown it over 50 times and had assembled it as many as 25 times. On the day of the accident, he and the pilot completed a control check while qued for the tow plane. He stated that he held the elevator while the pilot applied full up elevator control input. He felt the elevator move in the up position. He said neither the pilot nor he attempted to apply full nose down control input, as it was assumed the elevator was properly attached to the control rod fitting. He stated that in retrospect, the only way to positively check the connection is to hold the elevator in the up position while the pilot applies full nose down control input.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to attach the elevator control rod to the elevator, resulting in a loss of pitch control and subsequent ground impact. Additional factors were the failure to complete a positive control check and the lack of clear guidance in the assembly procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Williams |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95987 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Williams Glider Port |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 47 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 263 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 62 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -58 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11325 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2002 7:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Sacramento, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N47TR |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA144 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schleicher |
| Aircraft Model | ASW-20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1001 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 24 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Patrick M. Page |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sunnyvale |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94087 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | Williams |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Williams |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2002 5:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |