ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 149230
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| Date: | Saturday 1 September 2012 |
| Time: | 11:00 |
| Type: | Grob G103A Twin II |
| Owner/operator: | EL PASO SOARING SOCIETY INC |
| Registration: | N5489X |
| MSN: | 3877-K-115 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Horizon Airport - T27, El Paso, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | El Paso, TX (T27) |
| El Paso, TX (T27) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The glider club was launching gliders via a mechanical ground winch. On the first launch attempt, the glider overflew the tow cable and it automatically disconnected when the glider was low to the ground. The glider was able to make a safe landing on the runway. The pilot was overheard saying that the first launch failed because he should have initiated the climb sooner. On the second attempt, the glider once again overran the tow cable. Before the tow cable released, the pilot lowered the nose to pick up the slack in the cable and he instructed the winch operator to go faster. These two steps appeared to have corrected the problem, and the pilot initiated a climb. Shortly after, the glider began to overfly the cable again and it disconnected. The glider entered free flight just above stall speed about 75 feet above the runway. A witness saw the glider nose over and thought the pilot was going to land. Instead, the glider descended rapidly and drifted to the left toward a taxiway. The witness saw the wings of the glider rock back and forth before it impacted the ground hard. Examination of the glider and release hook revealed no mechanical anomalies. The ground winch's engine was reportedly running rough and most likely was unable to produce enough speed to launch the glider.
Probable Cause: The pilot‘s failure to maintain glider control while attempting to take off using a ground winch, which resulted in an inadvertent stall low to the ground. Contributing to the accident was the ground winch, which was unable to produce enough speed for a successful glider launch.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N5489X
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Sep-2012 23:25 | Geno | Added |
| 01-Oct-2012 22:00 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Damage] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 28-Nov-2017 13:27 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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