ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 142344
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| Date: | Monday 6 February 2012 |
| Time: | 10:39 |
| Type: | Silhouette Zealot (motorized glider) |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N61ZT |
| MSN: | 061 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 202 hours |
| Engine model: | Rotax 582 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | S of Florida Flying Gators Ultralight strip, Minneola, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Minneola, FL (3FD4) |
| Minneola, FL (3FD4) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot stated that he departed the airport and flew to a training area to conduct flight-testing (the airplane had recently been rebuilt), including some power-on stalls. According to the operating specifications, the glider was supposed to stall at 48 mph with the power on; however, the pilot stated that the glider would stall at 63 mph. However, the airspeed indicator had not been checked for accuracy. He returned to the airport and descended on a left base leg of the traffic pattern for runway 18. The glider was about 100 feet above ground level when the left wing and nose pitched down violently and stalled. There was insufficient altitude to recover and the glider collided with trees and the ground, 300 feet from the airstrip. The pilot stated that the glider did not experience any mechanical problems before the accident, and postcrash examination of the aircraft and engine showed no signs of a mechanical failure or malfunction. Although the pilot stated that the glider was flying at 70 mph at the time of the accident, it is likely that the airspeed indicator was inaccurate and that he was operating at a much lower speed, which resulted in the aerodynamic stall.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed on the base leg for landing, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of airplane control.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: https://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20120206X63147&key=1
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events01/media/01_61ZT.txt
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=61ZT&x=0&y=0
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Feb-2012 12:54 | Geno | Added |
| 08-Feb-2012 01:30 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Nature, Narrative] |
| 11-Feb-2012 08:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 11-Feb-2012 08:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 27-Nov-2017 20:19 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Sep-2023 14:13 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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