Morgan County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Morgan, Utah 84050
Saturday, July 31, 2010 14:50 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The accident pilot and a second glider pilot were operating in the same area about 7,400 feet mean sea level (msl). The accident pilot informed the second pilot over the radio frequency that he was climbing between 300 to 500 feet per minute (fpm). About an hour later, the second pilot learned from another pilot at the departure airport that the accident pilot had not returned. A subsequent search over the area resulted in the second pilot spotting the wreckage in a canyon about 6 nautical miles southeast of the departure airport. Track-log data recovered from an onboard recording device revealed that, after takeoff, the glider ascended to an altitude of about 9,100 feet msl during the first eight minutes of the flight. Additionally, the track-log data showed that about 28 minutes into the flight, at an altitude of 8,800 feet msl, the glider began a progressive descent, which lasted about 15 minutes until the glider impacted remote mountainous terrain at an elevation of about 6,500 feet msl. During the last 2 minutes of the flight, the ground speed fluctuated twice over a 15-knot range and was at 40 knots just before the altitude dropped abruptly and the glider descended vertically to the ground elevation in the last 12 seconds. A postaccident examination of the accident site revealed the entire glider was located in the general area where the impact occurred, there was no linear distribution path, and no indication of an in-flight breakup. The trees surrounding the accident site were not disturbed and the glider impacted the terrain in a steep angle, consistent with a stall/spin. No anomalies were noted with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in a stall/spin and ground impact.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/31/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1450
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Morgan
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84050
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410421N
Event Location Longitude 1113944W
Event Location Airport Morgan County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 42U
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 7
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1353 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 296
Weather Observation Facility ID OGD
Elevation of weather observation facility 4473
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 17
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 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) 29063
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 Oct 5 2011 2:01PM
User who most recently changed record rows
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N30AS
NTSB Number WPR10LA377
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name GLASER DIRKS
Aircraft Model DG300
Aircraft Series Identifier NO SERIES
Aircraft Serial Number 3E14
Certified Max Gross Weight 992
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Warren P Evans
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City South Ogden
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84403
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Warren P Evans
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City South Ogden
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84403
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 42U
Departure City Morgan
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1407
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 42U
Destination City Morgan
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 4 2011 5:54PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --