Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Torrey Pines Gliderport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Diego, California 92121
Sunday, March 16, 2003 10:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The right wing tip contacted the ground during an aborted takeoff. Gliders are launched from this airport with the assistance of a winch launch system. The winch launch system requires the pilot of the glider to obtain a steep climb attitude to prevent slack in the tow cable, and to establish an adequate airspeed and altitude prior to releasing from the cable. Witnesses who are glider pilots said the launch operation started normally and the glider rolled forward with good apparent speed. At the normal point of rotation, the typical rapid transition to a high angle of attack did not occur. The glider climbed to 20 to 30 feet above ground level, then leveled off. The glider appeared to overshoot the cable and the tow cable became slack. The glider appeared to be flying near stall speed when the pilot attempted to land on the emergency-intersecting runway. The right wing drug on the ground and the glider ground looped prior to stopping. The pilot stated that during launch, the glider did not gain enough altitude or airspeed to continue the flight. The pilot elected to abort the take off and tried to turn to land on a short intersecting runway. During the landing sequence the right wing tip contacted the ground. The glider ground looped, and came to rest on the north side of runway 27. The pilot said there were no mechanical discrepancies with the glider.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's use of an inadequate climb attitude during takeoff resulting in the proper climb rate not being established.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | San Diego |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92121 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325323N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1171449W |
| Event Location Airport | Torrey Pines Gliderport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CA84 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 372 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMYF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 427 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 334 |
| 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) | 16553 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 21 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 715 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO- SAN DIEGO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N31AP |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA114 |
| 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 | Schleicher |
| Aircraft Model | ASW-20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20369 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1000 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 147 |
| Airframe Hours | 984.1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MARK E. NAVARRE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKEWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90712 |
| 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 | CA84 |
| Departure City | San Diego |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Takeoff - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2004 6:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 1500 |
| Runway Width | 30 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |