Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nixon, Nevada 89424
Saturday, June 30, 2001 17:45 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The accident tow plane pilot intended to recover a glider that had made an off site landing on a hard gravel road. The glider's ground crew had positioned the glider about midway on the road, which was 4,000 feet long. The tow plane pilot's approach was slightly faster than intended, and the airplane landed long on the downhill road, with a slight tailwind. Also, the pilot misjudged the available stopping distance. As the tow plane approached the stationary glider, the pilot applied heavy breaks to decelerate, and the tow plane nosed over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot’s failure to attain the proper touchdown point and his misjudged distance/speed during landing rollout. Factors were the tailwind condition and the downhill landing area.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/30/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Nixon
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89424
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 395003N
Event Location Longitude 1192115W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1756 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 232
Weather Observation Facility ID RNO
Elevation of weather observation facility 4412
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 22000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 23
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12685
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 30 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2015
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 25 2003 9:38AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO Reno, NV

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8638V
NTSB Number LAX01LA230
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 Bellanca
Aircraft Model 8GCBC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 162-75
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
Aircraft Category Airplane
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Nevada Soaring Association, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2240 Saddle Ridge Ct.
Aircraft Owner City Reno
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89509
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 No
Departure Airport Code NV23
Departure City SPARKS
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1730
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Nixon
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 18 2002 2:23PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --