Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sterling Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sterling, Massachusetts 01565
Thursday, June 16, 2011 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, this was his first flight in this flap only, high performance glider. The glider was towed to 5,000 feet, where the pilot practiced pattern work as well as extending and retracting the flaps, from zero degrees to 90 degrees, while maintaining an adequate airspeed for landing. The pilot entered a tight traffic pattern at the airport and extended the flaps to 30 degrees. On the final leg of the traffic pattern, the glider was in line with the runway, and the pilot intended to extend the flaps to 45 degrees, but was unsure if he did so. When the glider was halfway down the runway, the pilot knew he had excessive airspeed and was going to land further down the runway than intended. Near the end of the runway, the pilot thought he landed so he pushed the controls forward in order to gain ground control, but the glider continued over trees past the end of the runway. Since the glider did not have enough altitude to safely turn back to the runway, the pilot landed it in trees resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot stated that he accumulated 107 hours of total flight time in a glider, of which, no hours were in the same make and model as the accident glider. The pilot reported there were no preexisting mechanical anomalies with the glider.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misjudgment of the amount of flaps required to attain the proper touchdown point. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's limited experience in the high performance glider.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/16/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sterling |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01565 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422520N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0714720W |
| Event Location Airport | Sterling Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3B3 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 459 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1452 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 348 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| 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) | 29.86 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28739 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 22 2011 7:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N99136 |
| NTSB Number | ERA11CA350 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EIRIAVION OY |
| Aircraft Model | PIK 20B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20147C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 990 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 7 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2200 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Timothy Greenwood |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Westford |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01886 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Timothy Greenwood |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Westford |
| Operator State | MA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 01886 |
| 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 | 3B3 |
| Departure City | Sterling |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 3B3 |
| Destination City | Sterling |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 8 2011 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 3086 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |