Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Tullahoma Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388
Saturday, September 28, 2002 13:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the student pilot, he was on his 17th solo flight at the time of the accident. After getting a car-tow, he climbed to 1100 feet, and maneuvered until he had descended to 600 feet. At this altitude, the student pilot elected to return to the airport. He entered the left traffic pattern for runway 06. As he turned onto the base leg of the approach, he realized that he was low and the wind continued to blow the glider away from the runway. The student pilot elected to turn final. Being concerned about the loss of altitude, the pilot decided to raise the nose in an effort to extend the glide. The student pilot said that this maneuver allowed the glider to clear most of the trees on the approach end of the runway, but the right wing collided with the top of a tree. The glider spun around and fell into a small grove of trees short of the runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot misjudged the airspeed and altitude during a visual approach to land that resulted in the in-flight collision with the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/28/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Tullahoma |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37388 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352254N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861448W |
| Event Location Airport | Tullahoma Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KTHA |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MQY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 1018 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 850 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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) | 13678 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1421 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 23 2003 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Nashville FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8747 |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA177 |
| 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 | Schempp-Hirth |
| Aircraft Model | KA8B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 8639-SH |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 685 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | University Tn Space Institute |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tullahoma |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 37388 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | David A. Ball |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7151 Creech Road |
| Operator City | Courtland |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 13045 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | THA |
| Departure City | Tullahoma |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2003 1:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 06 |
| Runway Length | 5400 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |