Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Desert Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cedar Valley, Utah 84013
Thursday, June 25, 2009 12:40 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The glider was being towed aloft by a tow-plane. Takeoff procedures for the glider required that the flaps be set at 0 degrees until aileron effectiveness, and then the flaps should be set at 10 degrees. The pilot had 0 degrees of flaps selected, and during the ground roll, the left wing was dragging on the ground surface. He attempted to align the glider with the runway and removed his hand from the flap handle and placed it on the tow release handle, intending to abort the takeoff. He leveled the wings and the glider lifted from the runway. The pilot gained control of the glider and intended to extend the flaps 10 degrees; however, his hand was still on the tow release handle and he unintentionally pulled the tow release at 75 to 100 feet above ground level. During the forced landing, the pilot misjudged the flare, the glider landed hard, and the pilot sustained serious spinal injuries.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot inadvertently applied the tow release handle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/25/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cedar Valley |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84013 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401433N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120534W |
| Event Location Airport | West Desert Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | UT99 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4902 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1250 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4497 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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) | 26019 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NW FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2009 9:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N800JM |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA313 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROLLADEN-SCHNEIDER OHG |
| Aircraft Model | LS3-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3325 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1040 |
| 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 | Nov 5 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 1535 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven G Rathbun |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84105-2612 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Steven G. Rathbun |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Salt Lake City |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 84105-2612 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | UT99 |
| Departure City | Cedar Valley |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1255 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | UT99 |
| Destination City | Cedar Valley |
| Destination State | UT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2009 9:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 2600 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |