Pipistrel TAURUS N261T

Summary

On 8 July 2011 at about 23:00 local time, a Pipistrel TAURUS registered N261T, operated by Gemtec Inc, was involved in an accident near Durango, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 July 2011 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Durango, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

37.5025, -107.8142

Aircraft

Pipistrel TAURUS

Registration

N261T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Gemtec Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Durango → Durango

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11FA465

1 person died.

The pilot’s loss of control during the off-airport landing in strong winds, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses observed the glider maneuvering at low altitude with the engine running, and it landed hard at an off-airport location. An examination of the airframe and engine did not detect any preimpact anomalies that would have prevented the normal operation of the glider, and the glider's ballistic recovery parachute had not been deployed. A review of the weather in the area found that conditions were favorable for convective clouds with updrafts and downdrafts up to 40 knots with the possibility of microbursts; therefore, it is likely that the pilot encountered strong wind conditions and chose to perform an off-airport landing. It is also likely that, had the pilot lost control of the glider at altitude (prior to the attempted landing), he would have deployed the ballistic recovery parachute.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.