Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Jean Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jean, Nevada 89019
Tuesady, June 30, 2009 12:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that after climbing to about 50 feet above ground level and reaching an airspeed of about 60 knots "...the glider would not continue to climb and immediately began to descend." The pilot stated that he lowered the nose and released the tow rope to land straight ahead, but immediately upon releasing [the tow rope] the left wing raised and the aircraft drifted right between the two runways. The pilot further stated, "In spite of a full left control stick input the glider continued to roll steeply right, and at the same time [I] had the sensation of being blown sideways and that the tail was being lifted up in an uncontrollable nose-down attitude." The pilot reported that the aircraft struck the ground on the right wing tip first, then the front nosewheel, then the tailwheel. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the undercarriage and the empennage. The pilot stated that he thought he had encountered a dust devil that was not in view and to the rear of the glider during takeoff. A witness reported that the glider seemed to be "...pushed down, though making forward progress until it turned steeply right." The pilot reported no anomalies with the glider.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the glider during the initial climb due to an inadvertent encounter with wind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/30/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Jean |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89019 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 354606N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1151947W |
| Event Location Airport | Jean Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0L7 |
| 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 | 2832 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1200 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2181 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 7 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26337 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional 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 | Nov 17 2009 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N63JJ |
| NTSB Number | WPR09CA479 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | SCHLEICHER |
| Aircraft Model | ASK-21 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21248 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1320 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 19 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4366 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aerobatic Force LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Phoenix |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John M Henderson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Jean |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Glider Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 0L7 |
| Departure City | Jean |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 0L7 |
| Destination City | Jean |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 17 2009 5:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20R |
| Runway Length | 4600 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |