Moriarty Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Moriarty, New Mexico 87035
Sunday, June 8, 2003 16:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After completing a left hand turn from base to final for runway 26, the pilot felt a sudden wind shift and noticed a groundspeed increase of approximately 5 to 10 knots. The glider landed hard, bounced into the air about 10 feet above the runway, and stalled. It struck the runway in a nose down attitude collapsing both wings, and separating the fuselage from the empennage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper flare, and his failure to recover from the subsequent bounced landing. Contributing factors include the sudden wind shift and the tail wind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/8/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1600
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Moriarty
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87035
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345913N
Event Location Longitude 1060056W
Event Location Airport Moriarty
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0E0
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 6199
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 125
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14579
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 3:53PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N850BG
NTSB Number DEN03LA100
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 Burkhart Grob
Aircraft Model G102 Standard III
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 56385
Certified Max Gross Weight 992
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 26 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 11.3
Airframe Hours 705.2
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name John G. Sullivan
Aircraft Owner Street Address 801 Camino Zozobra
Aircraft Owner City Santa Fe
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87505
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 0E0
Departure City Moriarty
Departure State NM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 0E0
Destination City Moriarty
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering - turn to landing area (emergency)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 30 2003 3:15PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26
Runway Length 7700
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --