Crunch Alert (USA) - hugely serious but (apparently) non-fatal

On Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:24:51 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
OUTSTANDING description, Mark. Kudos for Angel's description and your
reporting!


"Mark Mocho" wrote in message
...
I spoke to Angel Pala this morning. I have been asked to clear up some
misconceptions and incorrect assumptions floating around.

Angel reported that he was thermalling northeast of Moriarty at around
11,300 msl. He was pushing on the rudder pedals (probably fairly hard
as we do occasionally in strong conditions) when there was a "snap"
and both rudder pedals went forward on the adjustment/positioning rod.
He attempted to pull them back using the adjustment cable, but there
was no tension felt, either on the spring or the rudder slider. The
aircraft rudder deflected and put the glider into a right turn. THERE
WAS NO "INVERTED FLAT SPIN" as previously reported. The glider started
descending in a right turn. Angel attempted to control the turn by
using opposite aileron (slip) but control was insufficient to maintain
direction.

Terrain below was far too rugged to attempt to land with minimal
control, so he decided to exit the aircraft with plenty of altitude.
Angel is a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran with Jumpmaster
qualifications and 90+ jumps, so he wasn't exactly unfamiliar with
parachuting under stressful conditions. He mistakenly disconnected his
seat belts prior to jettisoning the canopy, and was outside looking in
very quickly. He described "floating along next to his aircraft" as a
very weird "surreal" feeling. The glider maintained a fairly flat
right turn as Angel pulled the ripcord. His chute, a ParaPhernalia
"Softie" had been repacked at the factory only a month prior to the
incident. He said the D-ring only extended a few inches before the
canopy deployed from the container. The opening was "heavier" than he
expected (i.e., very rapid) with a harsh opening shock. Angel said
that the opening was so quick tthat a 400 ft. altitude would have been
sufficient, and this is from one who had experience with HALO (High
Altitude Low Opening) jumps.

As he descended under canopy, he had difficulty reaching the steering
toggles. Whether their position was out of reach due to misadjustment
of the harness or the air stream had taken them off their stowed
position has not been determined. Angel used the risers to effect some
directional control. He was able to observe that the glider continued
to the ground in a stable, flat right turn. It impacted the ground
"relatively intact" as he described it. He even heard the impact
before he landed himself.

Realiozing that he would have to hike out, Angel concentrated on
protecting his lower extremities as much as possible, electing to land
in a relaxed PLF rather than attempt to run out the landing. Windy
conditions dragged him briefly before he was able to collapse the
canopy and release the harness. He gathered the canopy and hiked four
miles before getting a ride directly to a hospital in Santa Fe. He
called several people at Moriarty to give basic "I'm OK" messages. He
told me today with some chagrin that his "SPOT" messenger is safe in
his hangar.

He underwent an MRI and other tests, spent the night and was released
on Monday. Billy Hill picked him up and took him back to his home in
Taos. Injuries were relatively minor, with substantial bruising and
some tendon strain to his left shoulder, cuts and scrapes and some
mouth cuts, but he will make a full recovery.

Knowing Angel's sense of humor, we just had to ask some "sensitive"
questions. He reports that a normal catheter stays on, but will fail
under tension loads at the outlet. Good to know.

The FAA and NTSB have been notified and investigations are underway.
The glider will most likely be removed by a professional aircraft
recovery company. It may need to be removed by helcopter to a place
nearby with road access, as there isn't a way to get a vehicle and
trailer to the site. One Sheriff's Deputy who reached the site said
there is about a 75-100 foot bluff between the glider and the nearest
road. He described the trek up the bluff as "a real hump."

Once the aircraft has been recovered and inspected, more information
about the cause of the accident will be released. Until then, it is
inadvisable to speculate.

The Jonker representative and the factory have been in contact with
Angel, and there are no recriminations. Leo Bennetti-Longhini reprts
that Angel is being a true gentleman about the situation and Jonker
will do whatever is needed to identify the cause and effect a
solution. JS-1 owners have been notified of the situation.

I second that. This is the kind of accident reports we need to be able to understand better and learn - detailed and timely, vs NTSB reports which may take long time and typically have no details or worse, incorrect information.
And since the LAK17 was also mentioned in this thread, I would add that I heard of another LAK17 rudder cable disconnect, luckily after touch down, but if I recall correct this was a replacement cable and not factory cable.

I think the obvious lessons so far is to always inspect your glider as much as possible, and of course always fly with parachute!

Ramy

....and while we are talking about rudder cables, years ago I accidentally drilled through a rudder cable when installing a boom microphone. When we pulled the cable out to replace it, we found that the factory had done exactly the same thing a few feet further down the fuselage and half the strands were severed.

Sometime later, I heard of a rudder cable failure on this particular sailplane type and wondered if this were a common manufacturing problem.

Mike

On Tue, 01 May 2012 23:25:01 +0000, Don Johnstone wrote:

At 22:28 01 May 2012, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Tue, 01 May 2012 15:12:01 -0500, Peter von Tresckow wrote:

I have a ring mounted to the bulkhead behind the seat in my Ka-6, and
that was built in '63

Interesting. Mine is an H.201 Libelle. I suppose the static line could
simply be secured to the tube behind the seat. This carries the forward
wing pin sockets and doubles as attachment for the shoulder straps so
its

plenty strong enough but, on mine anyway, doesn't have a specific static
line anchor point.


Actually on a ride in a K13 in Germany I almost triggered the static
line when walking away from the plane. So you got to remember about
that
"feature"

:-)

I almost did that after getting out of an ASK-23 at the Wasserkuppe.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org |

What glider do you have Martin?

As I said above, an H.201 Std Libelle.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

On 5/2/2012 1:19 PM, Ramy wrote:
On Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:24:51 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
OUTSTANDING description, Mark. Kudos for Angel's description and your
reporting!


"Mark wrote in message
...
Major

snip of excellent stuff...


I second that. This is the kind of accident reports we need to be able to
understand better and learn -

Snip


Ramy

"What Dan and Ramy said." This took a lot of effort and time to research and
compose/write. It's genuinely appreciated.

Thank goodness 'only' a plane was lost. Let's hope a full investigation
manages to uncover 'a smoking gun.'

Bob W.

On Wednesday, 2 May 2012 01:31:12 UTC+5:30, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Tue, 01 May 2012 10:27:26 -0700, GM wrote:

Don't know what the rules are in other European countries but I Germany,
wearing a chute while in training is mandatory. Since a static line
chute pulls the rip-chord for you, this is what we exclusively used in
our trainers. I have seen two guys bail out of a L13 (wing came off)
using static line chutes and both where fully deployed in a very short
time after exiting! Each European-designed glider I know of has a
hard-point to attach the static line to. Said hard point is marked in
red.

When did those hard points first appear? My glider, built in 1969,
doesn't appear to have one, so I'm curious.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Martin,
don't know when these hard-points became standard but our club had a factory built K6CR (built in the early to mid '60s) and it had the hard-point already in it. My '64 Libelle has the forward carry-through tube designated as the hard-point, so I would guess that they have been around for a while. What glider do you fly? Did you check in your POH - should be in there.
Uli

Checked my LAK-17a, S/N 119 yesterday. Cables are in perfect condition and
service bulletin has been complied with.

Thanks, again, for the heads up.


"Bob Whelan" wrote in message
...
On 5/2/2012 1:19 PM, Ramy wrote:
On Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:24:51 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
OUTSTANDING description, Mark. Kudos for Angel's description and your
reporting!


"Mark wrote in message
...
Major

snip of excellent stuff...


I second that. This is the kind of accident reports we need to be able to
understand better and learn -

Snip


Ramy

"What Dan and Ramy said." This took a lot of effort and time to research
and compose/write. It's genuinely appreciated.

Thank goodness 'only' a plane was lost. Let's hope a full investigation
manages to uncover 'a smoking gun.'

Bob W.

On Wed, 02 May 2012 22:49:05 -0700, ulineumann wrote:

On Wednesday, 2 May 2012 01:31:12 UTC+5:30, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Tue, 01 May 2012 10:27:26 -0700, GM wrote:

Don't know what the rules are in other European countries but I
Germany,
wearing a chute while in training is mandatory. Since a static line
chute pulls the rip-chord for you, this is what we exclusively used
in our trainers. I have seen two guys bail out of a L13 (wing came
off) using static line chutes and both where fully deployed in a very
short time after exiting! Each European-designed glider I know of has
a hard-point to attach the static line to. Said hard point is marked
in red.

When did those hard points first appear? My glider, built in 1969,
doesn't appear to have one, so I'm curious.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org |

Martin,
don't know when these hard-points became standard but our club had a
factory built K6CR (built in the early to mid '60s) and it had the
hard-point already in it. My '64 Libelle has the forward carry-through
tube designated as the hard-point, so I would guess that they have been
around for a while. What glider do you fly? Did you check in your POH -
should be in there.

I fly an H.201 Libelle. In the Flight Manual it says:

Page E7 "The cockpit-layout is not suitable for automatic parachutes."

I presume they mean static line 'chutes? The term in German (page
7,German section) is 'automatische Fallschirme'.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Nearly all gliders have strong springs on the rudder pedals which
tension the cables. A rudder cable failure will result in the rudder
going over to the other side and there is nothing you can do with your
feet to prevent this (unless you can hook your foot under the pedal on
the unbroken side and pull it forward).

Basil

On Tue, 01 May 2012 20:01:19 +0000, John Firth wrote:

At 11:03 01 May 2012, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Monday, April 30, 2012 4:21:08 PM UTC-4, Mike the Strike wrote:
From Albuquerque Soaring web site...
=20
"Per Billy Hill this evening: today Angel Pala was thermalling with
Billy=
in the area north of Moriarty and south of Lamy when he heard a loud
bang,=
and lost rudder authority (both pedals fell full forward). Evidently the
g=
lider behaved like full right rudder. Shortly thereafter the glider
entered=
an inverted spin, and Angel wisely decided he should walk home, and so
hit=
the silk. He landed under parachute, and hiked out, and was taken to a
hos=
pital in Santa Fe. He seems to be fine and Billy expects to pick him up
whe=
n he is released from hospital.
=20
Mike

What was the altitude AGL ?
Where is the JS1 rudder vented ?

Sure lucky it ended OK for the pilot !
Best Regards, Dave

I am surprised that the rudder went full over, and slip would not center
it
Rudder vent?
Does not the JS-1 have an extractor dorsal vent?
WE should test controlability with feet off!
John Firth

On Thursday, May 3, 2012 11:27:50 PM UTC-7, Eric wrote:
Nearly all gliders have strong springs on the rudder pedals which
tension the cables. A rudder cable failure will result in the rudder
going over to the other side and there is nothing you can do with your
feet to prevent this (unless you can hook your foot under the pedal on
the unbroken side and pull it forward).

Basil

On Tue, 01 May 2012 20:01:19 +0000, John Firth wrote:

At 11:03 01 May 2012, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Monday, April 30, 2012 4:21:08 PM UTC-4, Mike the Strike wrote:
From Albuquerque Soaring web site...
=20
"Per Billy Hill this evening: today Angel Pala was thermalling with
Billy=
in the area north of Moriarty and south of Lamy when he heard a loud
bang,=
and lost rudder authority (both pedals fell full forward). Evidently the
g=
lider behaved like full right rudder. Shortly thereafter the glider
entered=
an inverted spin, and Angel wisely decided he should walk home, and so
hit=
the silk. He landed under parachute, and hiked out, and was taken to a
hos=
pital in Santa Fe. He seems to be fine and Billy expects to pick him up
whe=
n he is released from hospital.
=20
Mike

What was the altitude AGL ?
Where is the JS1 rudder vented ?

Sure lucky it ended OK for the pilot !
Best Regards, Dave

I am surprised that the rudder went full over, and slip would not center
it
Rudder vent?
Does not the JS-1 have an extractor dorsal vent?
WE should test controlability with feet off!
John Firth

One must wonder why, and if there was no safer way to design the rudder pedals mechanism so it wouldn't aggravate the situation in a case of cable break.

Ramy

On Friday, May 4, 2012 2:52:08 AM UTC-4, Ramy wrote:
On Thursday, May 3, 2012 11:27:50 PM UTC-7, Eric wrote:
Nearly all gliders have strong springs on the rudder pedals which
tension the cables. A rudder cable failure will result in the rudder
going over to the other side and there is nothing you can do with your
feet to prevent this (unless you can hook your foot under the pedal on
the unbroken side and pull it forward).

Basil

On Tue, 01 May 2012 20:01:19 +0000, John Firth wrote:

At 11:03 01 May 2012, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Monday, April 30, 2012 4:21:08 PM UTC-4, Mike the Strike wrote:
From Albuquerque Soaring web site...
=20
"Per Billy Hill this evening: today Angel Pala was thermalling with
Billy=
in the area north of Moriarty and south of Lamy when he heard a loud
bang,=
and lost rudder authority (both pedals fell full forward). Evidently the
g=
lider behaved like full right rudder. Shortly thereafter the glider
entered=
an inverted spin, and Angel wisely decided he should walk home, and so
hit=
the silk. He landed under parachute, and hiked out, and was taken to a
hos=
pital in Santa Fe. He seems to be fine and Billy expects to pick him up
whe=
n he is released from hospital.
=20
Mike

What was the altitude AGL ?
Where is the JS1 rudder vented ?

Sure lucky it ended OK for the pilot !
Best Regards, Dave

I am surprised that the rudder went full over, and slip would not center
it
Rudder vent?
Does not the JS-1 have an extractor dorsal vent?
WE should test controlability with feet off!
John Firth

One must wonder why, and if there was no safer way to design the rudder pedals mechanism so it wouldn't aggravate the situation in a case of cable break.

Ramy

The tension springs are an essential part of the control circuit to avoid flutter. Inspection of cables where they go through the adjustment guides is a standard item on inspection check lists.
It might be smart for everybody to adjust their pedals all the way forward and back and see if the guy who did our inspection nissed something.
UH