- Date
- May 7, 2000, 17:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Farmington, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2728ZSchweizer SGU2-22E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000507020459A
- Case key
- 49163
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's misjudgment of traffic pattern altitude that resulted in an off-field landing and the subsequent collision with the ground. A factor was rough terrain.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While on final approach to land, the flight instructor realized that they were too low for a safe landing on the runway. The flight instructor took the flight controls from the dual student and attempted a landing in a field short of the runway surface. The flight instructor stated that the glider touched down on the main landing gear and rolled up-slope in the emergency landing area. The glider continued up-slope, rolled over the top of the knoll, became airborne momentarily, and touched down a second time. During the second touchdown the nose skid dug into the ground and the left wing collided with the ground. No mechanical problems with the glider were reported by the pilot.
Factual narrative
On May 7, 2000, at 1745 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer SGU2-22E glider, N2728Z, collided with the ground 100 yards short of runway 18 during an attempted landing to Berts Field in Farmington, North Carolina. The instructional flight was operated by the flight instructor under the provisions of Title14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The glider sustained substantial damage, and the flight instructor and the dual student were not injured. The local flight departed Farmington, North Carolina, at 1530.
According to the flight instructor, he and the dual student were returning to Farmington for a full-stop landing when the accident occurred. While on final approach to land, the flight instructor realized that they were too low for a safe landing on the runway. The flight instructor took the flight controls from the dual student and attempted a landing in a field short of the runway surface. The flight instructor stated that the glider touched down on the main landing gear and rolled up-slope in the emergency landing area. The glider continued up-slope, rolled over the top of the knoll, became airborne momentarily, and touched down a second time. During the second touchdown, the nose skid dug into the ground and the left wing collided with the ground.
No mechanical problems with the glider were reported by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2728Z
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGU2-22E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 186
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Robin L. Schutte
- Registered owner
- Piedmont Soaring Society
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- NONE · Berts Field, runway 18, 2,800 × 300 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 472 total · 8 in this make and model · 407 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- INT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N2728Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.