Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Florida Flying Gators Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minneola, Florida 34712
Monday, February 6, 2012 10:39 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he departed the airport and flew to a training area to conduct flight-testing (the airplane had recently been rebuilt), including some power-on stalls. According to the operating specifications, the glider was supposed to stall at 48 mph with the power on; however, the pilot stated that the glider would stall at 63 mph. However, the airspeed indicator had not been checked for accuracy. He returned to the airport and descended on a left base leg of the traffic pattern for runway 18. The glider was about 100 feet above ground level when the left wing and nose pitched down violently and stalled. There was insufficient altitude to recover and the glider collided with trees and the ground. The pilot stated that the glider did not experience any mechanical problems before the accident, and postcrash examination of the aircraft and engine showed no signs of a mechanical failure or malfunction. Although the pilot stated that the glider was flying at 70 mph at the time of the accident, it is likely that the airspeed indicator was inaccurate and that he was operating at a much lower speed, which resulted in the aerodynamic stall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed on the base leg for landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/6/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1039 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Minneola |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34712 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 283739N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814810W |
| Event Location Airport | Florida Flying Gators |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3FD4 |
| 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 | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 179 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 76 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| 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) | 31508 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2013 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61ZT |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA171 |
| 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 | MOORE BYRON J |
| Aircraft Model | ZEALOT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 061 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 925 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 16 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 202 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GRIFFITH FREDRIC P |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ZELLWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32798-9741 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | GRIFFITH FREDRIC P |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ZELLWOOD |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32798-9741 |
| 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 | 3FD4 |
| Departure City | Minneola |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 926 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 3FD4 |
| Destination City | Minneola |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2013 2:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 1600 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |