Pilot Debrief

BURKHART GROB G 103 TWIN II near El Paso, TX — 2012-09-01

Final reportCEN12LA605
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Date
2012-09-01
Location
El Paso, TX, USA
Airport
T27
Aircraft
BURKHART GROB G 103 TWIN II
Registration
N5489X
Category
Glider
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
1
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

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.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident was the ground winch, which was unable to produce enough speed for a successful glider launch.

NTSB narrative

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.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the second launch attempt after the first failure.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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