ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 40112
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| Date: | Thursday 3 June 1999 |
| Time: | 14:41 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-18-150 |
| Owner/operator: | Puget Sound Soaring Assn |
| Registration: | N3189Z |
| MSN: | 18-7182 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1959 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 5887 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-A2B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Ephrata, WA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | (KEPH) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During a glider tow, the glider pilot failed to ensure that his aircraft's spoilers were retracted in the locked position during takeoff. During the initial climb, the towplane pilot radioed 'SPOILERS, BOB, SPOILERS' and a witness observed seeing the spoilers extended. The glider pilot retracted the spoilers during which the glider entered a nose-high, pitch up attitude. Realizing he was in a high tow position, and before he was able to manually release the tow line from the glider, the tow rope broke in overload and within the specified tensile limits per regulatory requirements. A witness observed seeing the towplane climb to approximately 150 feet AGL and then pitch nose down, descending in an approximate 45 degree flight path to a wings level ground impact. The aircraft impacted the terrain 40-50 degrees nose low, wings-level with the engine developing power. Examination of the aircraft's tow hook release latch mechanism revealed the potential for binding of the release latch when the towed aircraft moved significantly above the horizontal (trail) position.
Probable Cause: The glider pilot's failure to maintain control of his aircraft during spoiler retraction, which led to the Piper pilot's inability to recover safe flying airspeed within the altitude constraints at the time of the event. Contributing factors were the failure of the glider pilot to ensure that the spoilers were locked prior to takeoff, and the binding of the tow aircraft's tow hook release latch.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB SEA99FA080
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 September 1990 | N3189Z | Puget Sound Soaring Assoc. | 0 | Enumclaw, WA | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 14-Dec-2017 08:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Apr-2024 05:40 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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