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FTW91LA114

1991-07-02 · MARFA, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MRF

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT MISJUDGED THE APPROACH. FACTORS WERE THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, THE DOWNDRAFT, AND THE DTERIORTED CLIMB PERFORMANCE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OF THE MOTORIZED GILDER ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT FROM CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY DURING INITIAL CLIMB OUT FROM THE RUNWAY. THE GILDER WAS CLIMBING AT 150 TO 200 FEET PER MINUTE WAS 100 ABOVE GROUND WHEN IT STARTED TO DESCEND AT 200 FEET PER MINUTE. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED A LANDING IN AN OPEN FIELD, BUT STRUCK A FENCE DURING THE APPROACH. THE GLIDER WAS POWERED BY A TWO STROKE 25HP ENGINE AND WAS OPERATING WITH FULL WATER BALLAST AT MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WS ESTIMATED TO BE 9,000 FEET WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED. THE PILOT WAS A COMPETITOR IN THE NATIONAL MOTOR GLIDER COMPETITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_FTW91LA114.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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