Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morgan, Utah 84050
Thursday, October 3, 2002 14:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he flew to an area 6 miles northwest of the airport, where he experienced "very little lift and lots of sinking air." He continued to the south in search of lift, and after finding none, made a decision to return to the airport and land. As his sink rate continued to increase, he decided to land in a farm field. During landing, he flew under a power line to avoid striking it, and caught the left wing tip on the top line of a barbed wire fence. The glider collided with a mound of dirt. The glider's owner said the field prior to the one the pilot landed in, was shorter in length, but had a paved parking lot. At the end of this field, was a gravel pit with dirt piled 8 to 10 feet high, and a fence separating the two fields. According to an FAA inspector, the pilot bypassed a predeveloped subdivision that included approximately 3,000 feet of paved, straight roadway. The inspector also said the pilot had about 300 acres of open land in which to choose a suitable landing area. According to the owner and the FAA inspector, the glider impacted the pile of dirt, hit the top of a fence, impacted the roadway, and traveled across the roadway and through another fence. The glider sustained damage to the horizontal stabilizer and elevator, and the leading edges of both wings. The spar was broken in the right wing, and the main keel of the fuselage was broken.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inadequate inflight planning and decision which resulted in an unsuitable off-field landing site. A contributing factor was downdraft weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Morgan |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84050 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410853N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114625W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 210 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1355 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 243 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HIF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4789 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5797 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13321 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| 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 | Salt Lake City, UT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N99805 |
| NTSB Number | DEN03LA001 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | LET |
| Aircraft Model | Blanik L-13 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 026509 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1102 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 510 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J Bird Enterprises LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5000 Cottonwood Canyon Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mountain Green |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84050 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Morgan Valley Soaring |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | 42U |
| Departure City | Morgan |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 1 2003 2:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |