Let BLANIK L-13 N48038

Summary

On 23 July 2002 at about 20:00 local time, a Let BLANIK L-13 registered N48038, operated by Brent Davis, was involved in an accident near Lehi, Utah, United States. 2 people were 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

23 July 2002 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lehi, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Cedar Valley Airpark (NONE)

Coordinates

40.3569, -112.0181

Aircraft

Let BLANIK L-13

Registration

N48038

Category

Glider

Operator

Brent Davis

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lehi → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN02LA095

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning resulting in the glider impacting terrain short of the runway, and the pilot's subsequent abrupt handling of the glider when it became airborne again, which resulted in a hard second landing. A contributing factor was the downdraft weather condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The glider pilot said that he approached the north end of runway 17 for landing. He said "there is a nominal amount of sinking air at all times near the North end of the runway. The day of the incident the sink was far greater than expected." He said that he landed approximately 200 feet short of the runway, and impacted a 3 foot high berm next to an irrigation ditch (which ran perpendicular to the runway) at approximately 50 knots. The glider was "catapulted" over the ditch. The pilot immediately nosed the aircraft down to avoid a stall. "The glider landed flat and hard, crushing the landing gear, then skidding to a halt 75 feet past the runway apron." The glider's keel beam and wing spars were broken.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.