Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Starkville/George M. Bryan Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Starkville, Mississippi 39759
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 15:09 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot lost control of the experimental glider during a test flight, following the in-flight separation of both wings. The pilot was ejected from the disabled glider and was able to deploy his emergency parachute for a safe landing. The operator reported that the glider was towed to a pressure altitude of 12,000-feet by a Cessna tow-plane. During the test flight sequence, the aircraft experienced an in-flight break-up when both wings separated from the fuselage while maneuvering at 7,675 feet. Prior tests on the glider indicated the wing flutter speed was approximately 169 knots. The experimental glider was also equipped with an on-board flight data recording system that sent data to a ground station during the test flight. Post flight analysis of the data indicated that during the nose down attitude, the wings separated from the airframe at approximately 162 knots. The flight engineer stated that the glider was equipped with an airspeed indicator that indicated a maximum airspeed of 105 knots. The stop-point for the airspeed indicator was just beyond the maximum indicated airspeed. The pilot was unaware that the "never exceed" speed of 123 knots had been breached during the descent. The glider was reported to have been equipped with a ballistic recovery system (BRS) parachute, which was successfully deployed. The fuselage of the glider came to rest approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The structural failure of the airframe due to the inadvertent excessive airspeed during maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/18/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1509 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Starkville |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 39759 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0885100W |
| Event Location Airport | Starkville/George M. Bryan |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSTF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 332 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 75 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KGTR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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) | 21159 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 18 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Jackson, Mississippi |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N401MS |
| NTSB Number | DFW07LA006 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Windward |
| Aircraft Model | OWL |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 484 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mississippi State University |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Starkville |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 39759 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Mississippi State University |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 114 Airport Road |
| Operator City | Starkville |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 39759 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KSTF |
| Departure City | Starkville |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1444 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 9 2007 5:43PM |
| 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 | -- |