Heber City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Heber, Utah 84032
Saturday, August 25, 2007 16:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The glider approached the destination airport and adjoined with the downwind leg of the traffic pattern to the active runway. The glider immediately started a rapid descent with the spoilers in the extended (open) position. The glider continued in that configuration until reaching about 200 feet above ground level (agl), at which point the nose pitched up. The glider entered a stall/spin, impacting the desert terrain below, short of the runway. An examination of the wreckage disclosed that the spoilers were fully open at the time of impact and the landing gear was still in the undercarriage. No evidence of mechanical malfunction or failure was found during the examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during landing, resulting in an inadvertent stall/spin, undershoot and collision with the ground.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/2007
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Heber
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84032
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 402854N
Event Location Longitude 1112543W
Event Location Airport Heber City Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 36U
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5630
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.94
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) 23405
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 30 2008 1:28PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SLC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N62305
NTSB Number LAX07LA257
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Schempp-Hirth
Aircraft Model Standard Cirrus
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 148
Certified Max Gross Weight 728
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1200
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Petersen Gary
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Salt Lake City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84105
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Rulon J. Horne
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Sandy
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84093
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 36U
Departure City Heber
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1545
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 36U
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 3 2008 6:07PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 6898
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --