Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
San Geronimo Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Antonio, Texas 78253
Friday, June 9, 2006 19:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A bystander used a video camera to record the flight from the ground. A review of the video revealed that when the tow airplane and glider were on their takeoff roll, the glider's right wing deflected upwards (about 90 degrees) and completely separated at the wing-to-fuselage attachment point. The glider pilot simultaneously released the tow connection, as the glider descended back onto the runway and then veered to the right and out of camera view. The 2,500-hour commercial glider pilot had recently purchased the glider and he (and three others) helped him attach both wings four days prior to the accident. The pilot reported that while his associates held the wings, he used the manufacturer supplied Allen wrench and inserted it into the hexagonal hole on top of the wing, which house the wing-attachment mechanism that was mounted vertically to the inboard stub of the wing. The pilot reported that he made 15 complete revolutions of the wrench, which fully engaged the locking pins that run symmetrically along a jackscrew. The pilot visually confirmed that the top locking pin was flush with the plane of the top attachment ring. He also shook both wings to make sure they were secured. Prior to the first flight, the pilot performed a preflight inspection and he once again confirmed that the wing-to-fuselage attaching pins were fully engaged. He departed about five minutes later. Examination of the glider by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the wing-to-fuselage locking mechanism was not fully engaged. The inspector used the same Allen wrench that was used to install the wings and manually tested the locking mechanism. When the inspector inserted the wrench, the system moved freely and he was able to make 15 complete revolutions, which fully engaged the locking pins.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot/owner's failure to properly secure the right wing, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the right wing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/9/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Antonio |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78253 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293022N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0984732W |
| Event Location Airport | San Geronimo |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8T8 |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| 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) | 20427 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SAT FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9FM |
| NTSB Number | DFW06CA157 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Caproni Vizzola Cos. Aero. |
| Aircraft Model | Calif A-21 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 205 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jean Pierre Ducos |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Boerne |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jean-Pierre Ducos |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Boerne |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 8T8 |
| Departure City | San Antonio |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 8T8 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 1 2006 9:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |