Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Texas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Paso, Texas 79901
Sunday, December 16, 2001 15:16 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the aerial tow takeoff of the glider, between 50 and 100 feet agl, the tow rope broke. Witnesses observed the glider turn right, then make a left turn back towards the runway. The glider entered a steep bank to the left of approximately 90 degrees, at which time the glider stalled, impacted the ground with its left wing and nose, cartwheeled, and came to rest in an upright position. A tailwind condition existed at the time of the takeoff.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain minimum airspeed for flight, resulting in an inadvertent stall while maneuvering. A contributing factor was the failure of the tow rope.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/16/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1516 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | El Paso |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79901 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314310N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1061421W |
| Event Location Airport | West Texas Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | T27 |
| 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 | 4007 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11971 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 16 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2002 4:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Albuquerque FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N134EK |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA057 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schleicher |
| Aircraft Model | ASW-24E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24833 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Edgar Keil |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 370674 |
| Aircraft Owner City | El Paso |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79937 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | T27 |
| Departure City | El Paso |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1516 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | T27 |
| Destination City | El Paso |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 13 2002 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SNYG |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8 |
| Runway Length | 7505 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |