Decatur Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Decatur, Texas 76234
Monday, September 2, 2002 18:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

As the glider turned final for the runway, a witness observed the glider align with the taxiway. The witness reported that the glider "appeared to stall," then nosed-down and impact the ground short of the taxiway. The pilot had a total of 18.4 hours in gliders, and received a glider rating about 11 months prior to the accident. This was the pilot's second flight in the medium performance glider. The first flight was accomplished earlier in the day of the accident. Flight control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to all flight control surfaces.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in an inadvertent stall. A contributing factor was lack of total experience in the make and model of the accident aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/2/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Decatur
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76234
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331516N
Event Location Longitude 0973450W
Event Location Airport DECATUR MUNI
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 8F7
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 1047
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID DTO
Elevation of weather observation facility 642
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 36
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13971
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Sep 2 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1917
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA Operations Center

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2691H
NTSB Number FTW02FA243
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 Schweizer
Aircraft Model SGS 1-34
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 91
Certified Max Gross Weight 840
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 Sep 1 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours 1515
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name North Texas Soaring
Aircraft Owner Street Address 301 Airport Drive
Aircraft Owner City Decatur
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 76234
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 8F7
Departure City Decatur
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1745
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Jul 29 2003 11:53AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 3900
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --