Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Samuels Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bardstown, Kentucky 40004
Sunday, September 30, 2001 13:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on a local close traffic glider flight. After climbing above the traffic pattern altitude of 1,200 feet agl, he released from the tow-plane. Once free, he maneuvered the glider onto the downwind for runway 2, and radioed his position and intentions. He turned base approximately 700 feet agl, and made another radio announcement. About 500 feet agl, the pilot turned final and recalls having a good "angle" to his aiming point. About 150 to 200 feet from the aiming point and 10 feet agl, the indicated airspeed was approximately 50 knots. The pilot then shifted his attention outside the glider for the final phase of the landing. When the glider was about 3 feet agl and "near" the flare point, it started to drop "sharply." The glider touched down hard nose first, and then bounced back into the air. The pilot was able to maintain directional control while the glider made several more bounces before rolling out and coming to a stop. He then exited the airplane under his own power. The pilot had approximately 300 hours of total flight experience, with 7 hours of that in the accident glider make and model. In addition, he had flown 2.5 hours in the accident glider within 30 days of the accident. Examination of the glider revealed no preimpact failures or malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a nose-first, hard touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bardstown |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40004 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | SAMUELS FIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BRY |
| 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 | 669 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1256 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 332 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SDF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 501 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| 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) | 11281 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SOROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 4 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 7:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Louisville |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3301L |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA231 |
| 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 | LET |
| Aircraft Model | 33 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 930101 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 750 |
| 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 | Apr 21 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 291 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Louisvile Soaring Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1701 Sulgrave RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | Louisville |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40205 |
| 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 | BRY |
| Departure City | BARDSTOWN |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1258 |
| 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 | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2001 8:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 2 |
| Runway Length | 5003 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |