Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gallatin Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Belgrade, Montana 59714
Wednesday, July 31, 2002 14:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Just about the time the glider pilot was ready to initiate his base turn for the parallel sod runway, the tower controller asked him if he saw the traffic on a one mile final to the paved runway. According to the pilot, he then let go of the spoiler handle (the spoilers were partially deployed), in order to reach the microphone that was stored in a pocket on the right side of the glider. He advised the tower that he did not have the traffic in sight, put the microphone back in the pocket, and then reached back for the spoiler handle. At that time he discovered that the spoilers had deployed to the full open position. The pilot then immediately retracted the spoilers and made a turn to final. After turning final, the pilot realized that he probably would not be able to make it to the threshold of the sod runway, but because of the aircraft on final for the paved runway, he made the decision not to request a change to that runway (the threshold of which was approximately 2,500 feet closer to his position at the time). As the pilot continued on toward the threshold of the sod runway, he attempted to maneuver toward its right side in order to avoid some stakes that were between him and the runway threshold, and in order to land well clear of the paved runway. Ultimately the aircraft touched down approximately 200 feet short of the sod runway threshold and 50 feet to the right of its right edge. Although the initial touchdown in the tall weeds was uneventful, almost immediately after starting the landing roll, the aircraft impacted a ditch that the pilot had not been aware of.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The glider pilot's improper in-flight planning decision and his failure to attain the proper touchdown point. Contributing to the accident were the inadvertent activation of the speed brakes, the pilot's failure to maintain altitude, the high vegetation and the ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Belgrade |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59714 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 454636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1110910W |
| Event Location Airport | Gallatin Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BZN |
| 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 | 4500 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KBZN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 31 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12903 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2003 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N70741 |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA140 |
| 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 | Blanik |
| Aircraft Model | L-13 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 027341 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1103 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 7 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2100 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Big Sky Soaring, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 808 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Belgrade |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59714 |
| 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 | BZN |
| Departure City | Belgrade |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BZN |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2002 7:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 30R |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |