Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wurtsboro, New York 12790
Saturday, September 20, 2014 16:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During his first flight of the day, the pilot of the glider experienced windy conditions and sinking air in the vicinity of the airport. He subsequently departed on a solo flight, flew for about 15 minutes, and then entered the airport traffic pattern for landing. To compensate for wind, he conducted the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at a higher speed, and entered the base leg early. On final approach for landing, the glider experienced a loss of lift and "rapid" loss of altitude, and landed short of the runway in an uneven area of vegetation, resulting in substantial damage to the forward fuselage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of lift during the landing approach, which resulted in impact with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wurtsboro |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12790 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 413550N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0742730W |
| Event Location Airport | WURTSBORO-SULLIVAN COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N82 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 346 |
| Airport Elevation | 548 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1554 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 121 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMGJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 365 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMGJ 201954Z AUTO 17009KT 10SM BKN050 OVC060 |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33521 |
| 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 | Dec 2 2014 4:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N421SL |
| NTSB Number | ERA14CA453 |
| 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 | SCHLEICHER |
| Aircraft Model | ASK 21 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21808 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1323 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| 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 | WACO TRANSPORT BUSINESS TRUST |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10 ROUTE 17K |
| Aircraft Owner City | BLOOMINGBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 127213207 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WACO TRANSPORT BUSINESS TRUST |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 10 ROUTE 17K |
| Operator City | BLOOMINGBURG |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 127213207 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | N82 |
| Departure City | Wurtsboro |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | N82 |
| Destination City | Wurtsboro |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2014 4:09PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| 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 | -- |