Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 N39783

Summary

On 13 May 2007 at about 19:30 local time, a Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 registered N39783 was involved in an accident near Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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

13 May 2007 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Franconia, New Hampshire, United States

Nearest airport

Franconia Airport (1B5)

Coordinates

44.1958, -71.7494

Aircraft

Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103

Registration

N39783

Category

Glider

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Franconia → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07CA118

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to obtain the proper touchdown point. A factor in the accident was an encounter with an updraft while on approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After about 2.5 hours of soaring in the Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G-103 glider, the pilot returned to the airport and entered the traffic pattern at 1,200 feet with a "small amount" of spoilers deployed. He turned onto the downwind leg at 800 feet, and used "more spoilers" to descend to 500 feet. He then turned onto the base leg, and at 300 feet and 60 knots airspeed, he turned onto the final leg of the approach and aligned the glider with the runway. He immediately felt the glider had entered rising air, so he performed a full slip with the spoilers deployed; however, the glider did not descend significantly. The pilot waited for the glider to exit the rising air mass, and it continued to descend moderately until about mid-field, when it descended rapidly. The glider touched down about 3/4 down the runway and bounced back into the air. Due to a pile of debris at the end of the runway, the pilot elected to close the spoilers, overfly the debris, and land the glider in the treetops ahead at a slow speed. Before he could accomplish his plan, a crosswind blew the glider towards a tree. The left wing contacted the tree, and the glider subsequently impacted the ground.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.