Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Foscoe, North Carolina 28604
Saturday, April 6, 2013 15:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot of the motorized glider, he was flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet mean sea level (msl) en route to his home airport when he noted an episode of turbulence on the avionics logs for his flight path. He climbed to an altitude of 6,500 feet msl to avoid the turbulence and continued to his destination; however, the glider subsequently encountered severe turbulence that lasted for a few seconds. The pilot reported that during that time he heard a cracking noise in the rear of the glider, which he attributed to a loose quart of oil in the baggage compartment. He continued the flight and landed at his home airport uneventfully. While he was cleaning the glider after the flight, the pilot noted substantial damage to the empennage, which included a 12-inch crack to the composite structure under the right side of the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation before the turbulence encounter; further, he stated that he noted no controllability problems with the glider after the turbulence encounter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The motorized glider’s encounter with clear air turbulence, which resulted in substantial damage to the empennage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/6/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1540 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Foscoe |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28604 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355810N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814907W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| 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) | 31434 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2013 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N94DK |
| NTSB Number | ERA13CA195 |
| 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 | Phoenix Air |
| Aircraft Model | U15 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 5 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 121 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Palmetto Phoenix Associates, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Columbia |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29029 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Palmetto Phoenix Associates, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Columbia |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29029 |
| 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 | MKJ |
| Departure City | Ruiral Retreat |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CUB |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2013 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |