Details released on Ephrata glider accident
Matthew Weaver/Columbia Basin HeraldThe crashed glider remains on Port of Ephrata property Monday morning, before examination by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigation continues
EPHRATA - A National Transportation Safety Board investigator said the inquiry to determine the cause of a May 4 glider accident at the Ephrata Airport is ongoing.
Josh Cawthra of the NTSB said he expects it will take investigators between a month to a month and a half to determine the accident's probable cause.
It appears the accident involving Mercer Island pilot Nelson Funston happened after a control tube was accidentally left unattached during the Nimbus 4 glider's reassembly, according to an accident summary from the NTSB. The glider was placed in storage before its first flight at the Ephrata Airport.
Funston, 69, survived the accident.
"The pilot stated that during assembly of the glider prior to the flight, the left aileron control tube was inadvertently not attached and that he did not verify that all flight controls moved free and correct prior to takeoff," according to the NTSB.
Funston reportedly told investigators that during takeoff, the glider started to roll to the left "despite his control inputs."
He reportedly aborted the takeoff and landed straight ahead while trying to keep control of the glider. The left wing struck the ground and the glider cartwheeled.
Immediately after the accident, Funston told the Columbia Basin Herald the airport changed its operational procedure and added what he perceived as obstacles in the area. He said the obstacles were a "complicating factor" in the accident, but not the cause.
Port of Ephrata Manager Mike Wren said the obstacles Funston likely was referring to where new runway signs, which are located 135 feet from the center line of the runway.
Wren said the glider runway was changed recently. There's an intersection of taxiways with signs that indicate people are coming to a runway, he said.
Wren said the runway doesn't have obstacles and it was very specifically designed to meet FAA criteria.
"The glider guys used to have nothing out there," he said. "The glider pilots are getting more and more used to it."
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the accident.