Windward OWL N401MS

Summary

On 18 October 2006 at about 20:09 local time, a Windward OWL registered N401MS, operated by Mississippi State University, was involved in an accident near Starkville, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 October 2006 at 20:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Starkville, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Starkville/George M. Bryan (KSTF)

Coordinates

33.4333, -88.8500

Aircraft

Windward OWL

Registration

N401MS

Category

Glider

Operator

Mississippi State University

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Starkville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW07LA006

1 person had minor injuries.

The structural failure of the airframe due to the inadvertent excessive airspeed during maneuvering.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot lost control of the experimental glider during a test flight, following the in-flight separation of both wings. The pilot was ejected from the disabled glider and was able to deploy his emergency parachute for a safe landing. The operator reported that the glider was towed to a pressure altitude of 12,000-feet by a Cessna tow-plane. During the test flight sequence, the aircraft experienced an in-flight break-up when both wings separated from the fuselage while maneuvering at 7,675 feet. Prior tests on the glider indicated the wing flutter speed was approximately 169 knots. The experimental glider was also equipped with an on-board flight data recording system that sent data to a ground station during the test flight. Post flight analysis of the data indicated that during the nose down attitude, the wings separated from the airframe at approximately 162 knots. The flight engineer stated that the glider was equipped with an airspeed indicator that indicated a maximum airspeed of 105 knots. The stop-point for the airspeed indicator was just beyond the maximum indicated airspeed. The pilot was unaware that the "never exceed" speed of 123 knots had been breached during the descent. The glider was reported to have been equipped with a ballistic recovery system (BRS) parachute, which was successfully deployed. The fuselage of the glider came to rest approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the airport.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.