Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sunflower Aerodrome Gliderport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hutchinson, Kansas 65071
Sunday, September 2, 2007 15:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The glider achieved flight as normal prior to rotation by the tow plane. As the glider continued along the runway there seemed to be some sort of external downward force like a wind gust. The glider wheel touched the runway and the glider bounced into the air, gaining altitude rapidly. The pilot released the glider tow line and continued straight. The pilot stated that the tow plane was not in sight and there was an impression that the tow plane may have taken off. The pilot banked the glider to the right to return to the airport. During the turn the right wing stalled and the glider lost altitude rapidly. The glider impacted terrain to the west of the runway on airport property. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented by making a small right turn and landing straight ahead on the remaining runway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during a low altitude release resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin. Contributing factors were the pilot's decision to turn back to the airport at low altitude and the wind gust.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/2/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1545 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hutchinson |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 65071 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375521N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0975413W |
| Event Location Airport | Sunflower Aerodrome Gliderport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SN76 |
| 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 | 1582 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1552 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHUT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1542 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| 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) | 22896 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Central Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 2 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Wichita, Kansas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7476 |
| NTSB Number | DEN07LA152 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Slingsby |
| Aircraft Model | Swallow Type T.45 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1660 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 700 |
| 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 | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1285 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wichita Soaring Association, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wichita |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67212 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sonja Flesberg |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 520 E. Parma Way St. |
| Operator City | Gardner |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 66030 |
| 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) | Glider Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SN76 |
| Departure City | Hutchinson |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2008 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |