Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Culberson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kent, Texas 79855
Friday, March 25, 2005 16:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 3,460-hour commercial glider pilot reported that, while soaring, he encountered poor thermal conditions and the glider began to lose altitude. The pilot observed a field by a ranch house and elected to land there. As the pilot approached the field, he observed high power lines at the approach end and a fence and shed at the far end of the field. When the glider was approximately 300 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot decided that the field would be an unsuitable place to land and turned approximately 270 degrees and executed a precautionary landing in the "best part of a bad area." When the glider was two to three feet agl, the left wingtip impacted a cactus. The glider then pivoted approximately 70 degrees, slid, and the right wing then impacted another cactus.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgement of distance and altitude during a cross-country soaring flight. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/25/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kent |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79855 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 310200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044400W |
| Event Location Airport | Culberson County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VHN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 29 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 17932 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 28 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N787T |
| NTSB Number | DFW05CA096 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Glaser-Dirks |
| Aircraft Model | DG 600 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6-3 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1140 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1560 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rokki Roberts |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6001 Savoyer Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77423 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Albert Heath |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Brookshire |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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 | MRF |
| Departure City | Marfa |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MRF |
| Destination City | Marfa |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2005 5:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |