The CubCrafters NC CC18-180, owned by Akima Logistics Services, a federal government contractor, was part of a fleet used to tow gliders for the U.S. Air Force Academy cadet glider flight training program in Colorado. Civilian pilots are employed to operate the airplanes.
On the day of the accident, the pilot reported for duty to assume the afternoon shift around 11:45 a.m. and received the daily safety brief from the lead tow pilot.
The accident occurred following the pilot’s second glider tow of the day.
The pilot classified the approach to Runway 16R as normal and stated that he was preparing for a wheel landing. He reported that he encountered “meteorological conditions I hadn’t seen/felt before,” and the airplane began to “drift quickly left more forcibly than normal turning tendencies.”
He decided to initiate a go-around.
As the airplane accelerated during the go-around, it started “turning/yawing” even though the pilot was trying to accelerate straight and level. The pilot surmised this was from the same meteorological effect that initially pushed the airplane left, and he classified it as a “wind vane effect.”
The pilot noticed that the airplane seemed to yaw to the right without the wing drop characteristics of an aerodynamic stall.
The airplane began descending, touched down, and came to rest inverted in a grass field. The glider tow rope remained attached to the airplane.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the empennage.
The pilot sustained minor injuries in the crash.
First responders who provided medical treatment to the pilot at the accident site reported that they smelled alcohol on the pilot’s breath in the ambulance.
The pilot admitted to first responders that he had consumed alcohol earlier that morning.
The pilot’s evaluation upon arrival at the local hospital included a clinical serum ethanol test that was collected a bit after 1 p.m. and showed a serum ethanol level of 0.079 g/dL.
The physician’s note documented that first responders reported that the pilot smelled like alcohol and had been drinking eight hours before the flight.
The physician documented that the pilot admitted to drinking alcohol the night before the accident but could not state the amount that he had consumed or when he had stopped drinking, although the pilot felt that it had been more than eight hours before flying.
The physician documented alcohol intoxication among the pilot’s diagnoses.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during the go-around, which resulted in impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment from the effects of alcohol consumption.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This July 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
So he supposedly stopped drinking by about 0300 and then showed up to tow gliders at 1145 the next day… an hour later, he still tests at .079, almost enough for an auto DUI?
That was some bender, and I can’t help but wonder how the glider pilots feel about this guy. How did no one notice impaiment prior to his taking flight?
This pilot should lose his ticket for longer than forever.
Question for which I do not know the answer: Does law enforcement charge this driver with DWI as would be the case in an auto accident? My guess is ‘no’ because in some respects GA is still the Wild, Wild West and the cowboy pilots like it that way..
Regards/J
0.08 is a hypothetical impairment number for prosecution purposes, that not every person’s system responds to equally, like altitudes and G forces. My ex wife was plastered after 4 oz of red wine.