Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jean, Nevada 89111
Friday, February 9, 2007 14:30 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The glider hit the ground hard at a steep vertical angle when the tow hook jammed sideways, and failed to release. The pilot set up a winch and cable ground launch system. He spent about 1.5 hours inspecting, removing, and repairing the winch cable. He launched to the east, released at 1,400 feet agl, made a 5-minute flight, and landed. He moved the cable and winch to set up for a launch to the west. He requested a 65 mph cable speed; he cleared the pattern and midfield from both ends via radio. The takeoff was normal to 700 feet agl. The glider entered a thermal, and experienced a strong surge in rate of climb. The airspeed decreased to 50 mph, and then to 44 mph. He requested that the ground personnel adjust the winch for more speed, but he did not see an airspeed increase. He dove the glider to 60 mph, and requested more speed again. He noticed the airspeed getting slower despite a nose down attitude, which he assumed was from the cable weight with no cable forward pull. As he made a third request for an increase in winch speed, he simultaneously pushed the nose down, and pulled the cable release. He did not hear a click, so he assumed that the cable had already back released. Looking forward, he noticed that he was getting very close to the winch and parked vehicles. His altitude was now below 400 feet agl; he elected to turn away for a downwind landing. He turned away, and was perpendicular to the winch. He saw his shadow on the ground, and was surprised and alarmed to see that the winch cable was still attached to the underside of glider. He pulled the release again, but the cable became taught. He felt no release, and the cable was pulling the glider quickly toward the ground. The control responses decreased. He unsuccessfully attempted to dive and build enough airspeed to break the cable's weak link. The nose responded momentarily when he pulled back on the control stick. He thought that he detected a very brief forward motion rather than down motion; however, the glider hit the ground hard.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the tow hook jamming and failing to release from the glider.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/9/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Jean |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89111 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 054606N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1151947W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1356 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2492 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| 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) | 21474 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 9 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration Las Vegas FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2438W |
| NTSB Number | LAX07CA086 |
| 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 | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | SGS 2-3C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1340 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3820 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John F. Good |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John M. Henderson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Jean |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89019 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Jean |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 11 2007 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |