Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Waimea-Kohala Airprot Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Volcano, Hawaii 96785
Friday, January 16, 2009 13:16 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was attempting to set an altitude record over the big island of Hawaii. The glider was towed to 12,600 feet mean sea level (msl) and released about 1028. Around 1245, the pilot radioed that he was in the primary wave, climbing at 1,000 feet per minute, and was at 28,000 feet (msl). He then stated that he was going to crossover to Mauna Loa. The next day search aircraft identified widely scatted debris at 10,000 feet on the southwest face of the Mauna Loa Volcano. The glider was equipped with a flight data recorder, which depicted that the glider climbed to 20,375 feet msl near the town of Holualoa, flew east-northeast and rose to 30,116 feet msl over Mauna Kea, then proceeded south-southwest to Mauna Loa and climbed to 36,846 feet msl. Three minutes and twelve seconds from the end of the recording, at 38,630 feet, the track abruptly became linear from a constant-rate turn headed in a southwest direction, with the rate of descent rapidly increasing over the next 16 seconds to 24,000 feet per minute. At the beginning of the descent, the track exhibited a pitch oscillation before the descent rate accelerated. Fifty-six seconds from the end of the recording the track suddenly reversed course 180 degrees and descended almost vertically until the end of the data. The sudden course reversal can be associated with the structural failure of the airframe from very high aerodynamic loads. A large section of the left wing was located 3.4 miles downwind from the main wreckage, indicating that the left wing separated from the airframe at a high altitude. The spar cap fractures were consistent with a negative overload of the wing. Between 1315:23 and 1315:43, the true airspeed was calculated to increase from 60 knots to 120 knots, back to 103 knots, then 180 knots, and finally 241 knots. The operating limitation section of the glider’s flight manual lists 146 knots (270 km/h) as the red line airspeed. At 20,000 feet indicated airspeed is limited to 117 knots for flutter prevention. The manufacturer stated that the airspeed limitation can be extrapolated linearly to 40,000 feet. Due to the extensive fragmentation of the airframe, the possibility of a flight control malfunction could not be ruled out.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of pitch control and subsequent exceedance of the glider's airspeed limit for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/16/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1316 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Volcano |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96785 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 192851n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1552625w |
| Event Location Airport | Waimea-Kohala Airprot |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PHMU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 40 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2671 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHSF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6190 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26639 |
| NTSB Notification Source | AWP-6 Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 17 2010 2:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N777WN |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA089 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | GLASER-DIRKS |
| Aircraft Model | DG-400 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4-116 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1014 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 2 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 909 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BIGELOW DAVID L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | KAMUELA |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96743-5607 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BIGELOW DAVID L |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | KAMUELA |
| Operator State | HI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 96743-5607 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PHMU |
| Departure City | Waimea |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PMHU |
| Destination City | Mauna Loa |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 9 2010 1:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | mckv |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |