Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brackettville, Texas 78801
Saturday, August 9, 2008 15:32 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of N110RG, he was stabilized in a right 55 degree bank and had completed three turns when he heard a loud bang and immediately "lost control." The right wing dropped, the glider rolled to the right, and went inverted. The pilot of N110RG exited the glider and deployed his parachute. During the egress he was seriously injured. According to the pilot of N777UN, he had observed two gliders in the thermal in front of him and entered the thermal underneath them. After two turns in the thermal, he lost sight of the two gliders and collided, shortly thereafter, with N110RG. His left wing and winglet impacted the right wing of the other glider. The pilot of N777UN landed uneventfully. N110RG was destroyed and N777UN sustained minor damage. The damage to the right wing, sustained during the collision, rendered N110RG uncontrollable. Soaring procedure recommend that the pilot exit a thermal if visual contact is lost with another glider and cannot be established via a radio call.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of N777UN to exit the thermal upon losing visual contact with the other gliders, resulting in a midair collision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1532 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Brackettville |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78801 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291240N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0994436W |
| 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 | 1525 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UVA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 942 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 37 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24602 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 24 2009 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio FAA Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N777UN | N110RG |
| NTSB Number | DEN08LA137A | DEN08LA137B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schempp-Hirth | AB Sportine Aviacija |
| Aircraft Model | Ventus 2A | Genesis 2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 74 | 2005 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1157 | 1157 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | -- | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2007 12:00AM | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1283 | 500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | No |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Carl | Michael Brooks |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Longmont | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 80503 | 77035 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | -- | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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) | Air Race/Show | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UVA | UVA |
| Departure City | Uvalde | Uvalde |
| Departure State | TX | TX |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | UVA | UVA |
| Destination City | Uvalde | Uvalde |
| Destination State | TX | TX |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 7 2008 12:13PM | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | kaij | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |