Schweizer SGS-1-26B N9927J

Summary

On 12 July 1997 at about 19:15 local time, a Schweizer SGS-1-26B registered N9927J was involved in an accident near Eustis, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 July 1997 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Eustis, Florida, United States

Coordinates

28.8502, -81.6807

Aircraft

Schweizer SGS-1-26B

Registration

N9927J

Category

Glider

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA97LA211

Nobody was injured.

an in-flight separation of the right wing, and subsequent impact with trees. Factors in this accident were thermal lift and turbulence in clouds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight was tracking northward, when the pilot said he experienced 'minimal lift' at an altitude of about 4,000 feet mean sea level (msl). A ground witness said there was a cumulus cloud in the vicinity just before the accident. The pilot said that when he got near the cloud the lift increased, at first to about 300 feet per minute (fpm), then to about 600 fpm. As the glider passed 4,000 feet msl, there was a rapid rate of increase to over 1,000 fpm. The pilot estimated that the glider climbed from 4,000 feet msl to about 6,200 feet msl in about 20 seconds. At peak altitude the right wing separated from the glider, at the root. The pilot said he believed the wing separated upward, and made contact with the top of the canopy. He attempted numerous combinations of control imputes. The glider yawed, rolled and pitched with little response to the controls, and finally became upright in a high yaw rate condition. The glider impacted in a thick stand of 80-to 100-foot tall pine trees. The reported cloud bases at the time of the accident were reported to be 4,300 feet msl. The floor of the Class B airspace was 3,000 feet msl at the location of the accident, and the aircraft was operating at the time of the accident without gyro instruments. A section of the right wing front spar was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, DC, for examination. The examination revealed that the fracture features and deformations were all consistent with 'overstress separations.' No evidence of fatigue or any type of cracking was found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.