Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Durango, Colorado 81301
Friday, July 8, 2011 17:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses observed the glider maneuvering at low altitude with the engine running, and it landed hard at an off-airport location. An examination of the airframe and engine did not detect any preimpact anomalies that would have prevented the normal operation of the glider, and the glider's ballistic recovery parachute had not been deployed. A review of the weather in the area found that conditions were favorable for convective clouds with updrafts and downdrafts up to 40 knots with the possibility of microbursts; therefore, it is likely that the pilot encountered strong wind conditions and chose to perform an off-airport landing. It is also likely that, had the pilot lost control of the glider at altitude (prior to the attempted landing), he would have deployed the ballistic recovery parachute.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s loss of control during the off-airport landing in strong winds, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/8/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Durango |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 81301 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 373009N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1074851W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 172 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DRO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6685 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 11000 |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KDRO 082253Z AUTO 22017G22KT 10SM FEW110 32/ |
| 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) | 29585 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2012 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N261T |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA465 |
| 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 | Pipistrel |
| Aircraft Model | Taurus |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 503 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 051T503 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1215 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 16 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 62 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GEMTEC INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 28 RIM ROCK DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | DURANGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 81301-8603 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | GEMTEC INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 28 RIM ROCK DR |
| Operator City | DURANGO |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 81301-8603 |
| 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 | KDRO |
| Departure City | Durango |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Durango |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 3 2012 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | aguj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |