Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ephrata Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ephrata, Washington 98823
Saturday, April 26, 2003 13:50 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while returning to the airport for landing, he entered the traffic pattern downwind leg about one mile southwest of the airport after encountering "strong sinking air." The pilot stated that he flew a faster and lower then normal pattern, with "an abbreviated base to final in order to shorten the distance to the landing area." During the round out for final approach, approximately 10 feet AGL, he deployed the spoilers. The pilot was unsure if the airspeed was too low, or there was a gust of wind, when the right wing dropped and struck the ground. The glider pivoted to the right followed by the tail striking the ground. The pilot reported that the side loading applied to the landing gear resulted in substantial damage to the steel tubing structure and a puncture in the right wing skin.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while on final approach for landing. Low airspeed was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/26/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1350 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ephrata |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98823 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 471846N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1193000W |
| Event Location Airport | Ephrata Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EPH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 2 |
| Airport Elevation | 1276 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EPH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1276 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 29.84 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13645 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 28 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 825 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Spokane, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3839 |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA072 |
| 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 | Cirrus |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 39 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1014 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 15 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 1695 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | William S. Allan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mountlake Terrace |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98043 |
| 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 | EPH |
| Departure City | Ephrata |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | May 15 2003 5:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 6700 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |