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Atlas / NTSB / ATL87IA067

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL87IA067

1987-01-31 WILLIAMSON, Georgia, United States Airport · 3GA7 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N429BG

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BURKHART GROB FLUGZEUGBAU G103 TWIN ASTIR

Year of manufacture

1982 · 5 years old at event

Engine

NONE NONE

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19821213

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A51D2E

Registrant of record

CHERRYHILL FLYING CLUB LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

AS THE GLIDER PLT WAS APCHG THE ENTRY POINT FOR LANDING, HE CHECKED THE SPOILERS FOR OPERATION. THE SPOILERS EXTENDED, BUT WOULD NOT RETRACT. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE SINK RATE & THE PLT REALIZED HE WOULD BE UNABLE TO REACH THE ARPT. SUBSEQUENTLY, HE LANDED THE GLIDER (SAILPLANE) APRX 1/4 MI NORTH OF THE ARPT. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ABELLCRANK (PN 103B-4433) IN THE SPOILER CONTROL SYSTEM HAD FAILED AT TWO LOCATIONS ON THE CENTER BEARING HOUSING. A METALLURGICAL EXAM REVEALED THE BELLCRANK HAD FAILED FROM HIGH CYCLE, LOW STRESS FATIGUE. THE FAILURES OCCURRED AT THE EDGE OF FILLET-WELDS IN RELATIVELY SOFT, HEAT AFFECTED ZONES (HAZ). THE BELLCRANK HAD NOT BEEN SUBJECTED TO POST WELD HEAT TREATMENT. TESTS VERIFIED A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF HARDNESS IN THE HAZ. THE GLIDER HAD A TOTAL FLT TIME OF 318 HRS WHEN THE BELLCRANK FAILED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_ATL87IA067.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.