Let BLANIK L-13 N99805

Summary

On 3 October 2002 at about 20:00 local time, a Let BLANIK L-13 registered N99805, operated by Morgan Valley Soaring, was involved in an accident near Morgan, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 October 2002 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Morgan, Utah, United States

Coordinates

41.1481, -111.7736

Aircraft

Let BLANIK L-13

Registration

N99805

Category

Glider

Operator

Morgan Valley Soaring

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Morgan → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN03LA001

2 people were seriously injured.

the pilot's inadequate inflight planning and decision which resulted in an unsuitable off-field landing site. A contributing factor was downdraft weather conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said he flew to an area 6 miles northwest of the airport, where he experienced "very little lift and lots of sinking air." He continued to the south in search of lift, and after finding none, made a decision to return to the airport and land. As his sink rate continued to increase, he decided to land in a farm field. During landing, he flew under a power line to avoid striking it, and caught the left wing tip on the top line of a barbed wire fence. The glider collided with a mound of dirt. The glider's owner said the field prior to the one the pilot landed in, was shorter in length, but had a paved parking lot. At the end of this field, was a gravel pit with dirt piled 8 to 10 feet high, and a fence separating the two fields. According to an FAA inspector, the pilot bypassed a predeveloped subdivision that included approximately 3,000 feet of paved, straight roadway. The inspector also said the pilot had about 300 acres of open land in which to choose a suitable landing area. According to the owner and the FAA inspector, the glider impacted the pile of dirt, hit the top of a fence, impacted the roadway, and traveled across the roadway and through another fence. The glider sustained damage to the horizontal stabilizer and elevator, and the leading edges of both wings. The spar was broken in the right wing, and the main keel of the fuselage was broken.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.