Burkhart Grob G 103 TWIN II accident near El Paso, TX
On September 1, 2012, a Burkhart Grob G 103 TWIN II (glider) was involved in an accident near El Paso, TX. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- September 1, 2012
- Place
- El Paso, TX
- Aircraft
- Burkhart Grob G 103 TWIN II · Glider
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 31.719°N, 106.235°W
- NTSB ID
- 20120905X92749
Official records · CEN12LA605
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On September 1, 2012, about 1100 mountain daylight time, N5489X, a Burkhart Grob G103 Twin II glider, sustained substantial damage when it landed hard during an attempted takeoff using a ground winch at the Horizon Airport (T27) near El Paso, Texas. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The glider was registered to and operated by the El Paso Soaring Society Incorporated, El Paso, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The El Paso Soaring Society was using the ground winch to launch gliders because their tow airplane was down for maintenance. The winch was set up on the overrun area on the east side of Runway 08. According to a witness, a week before the accident, he attended a class on how to launch a glider using the ground winch. The class was given by the pilot and the person who operated the winch on the day of the accident. The witness said the class was taught from both a pilot and winch-operating perspective. The following weekend, the witness returned to the airport to assist with the glider launches. He said that on the first launch attempt, he ran alongside the glider's wing until it got airborne. When the glider was approximately 15 feet above the ground, it overran the winch cable and the center of gravity (CG) hook automatically disconnected. The glider landed straight ahead without incident. While ground-towing the glider back to the takeoff area, the witness heard the pilot telling the winch operator to do the same exact thing with the win
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain glider control while attempting to take off using a ground winch, which resulted in an inadvertent stall low to the ground. Contributing to the accident was the ground winch, which was unable to produce enough speed for a successful glider launch.
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Browse: Texas · Burkhart Grob aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
