Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mid-Atlantic Soaring Center Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairfield, Pennsylvania 17320
Sunday, May 5, 2002 12:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot completed a left traffic pattern to land on runway 33L, one of two parallel grass runways. He overshot the runway, and decided to land on runway 33R. He subsequently left the spoilers deployed for too long, and descended faster than expected. He attempted to align the glider with the runway, but was unable to level the wings prior to the left wing tip striking the ground. When asked about the performance of the glider, the pilot stated, "The glider performed fine. It was responding as designed. Unfortunately, the inputs were not correct."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to attain proper runway alignment. A factor in the accident was the pilot's delay in retracting the spoilers.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/5/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fairfield |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 17320 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394525N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0772104W |
| Event Location Airport | Mid-Atlantic Soaring Center |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | W73 |
| 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 | 565 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HGR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 703 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| 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 | 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) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.33 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -85 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KHGR 51553 10 1028.1 30.33 55 46 72 999 3 |
| 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) | 13394 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5364G |
| NTSB Number | IAD02LA048 |
| 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 | Burkhart Grob |
| Aircraft Model | G103 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3865 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 859 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 18 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 4641 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4823 Teen Barnes Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Frederick |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21703 |
| 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 | W73 |
| Departure City | FAIRFIELD |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| 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 | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 33R |
| Runway Length | 2700 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |