- Date
- September 28, 2002, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tullahoma, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8747Schempp-Hirth KA8B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 23, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Nashville FSDO
- FAA report
- 20020928032299A
- Case key
- 55910
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 student pilot misjudged the airspeed and altitude during a visual approach to land that resulted in the in-flight collision with the trees.
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
According to the student pilot, he was on his 17th solo flight at the time of the accident. After getting a car-tow, he climbed to 1100 feet, and maneuvered until he had descended to 600 feet. At this altitude, the student pilot elected to return to the airport. He entered the left traffic pattern for runway 06. As he turned onto the base leg of the approach, he realized that he was low and the wind continued to blow the glider away from the runway. The student pilot elected to turn final. Being concerned about the loss of altitude, the pilot decided to raise the nose in an effort to extend the glide. The student pilot said that this maneuver allowed the glider to clear most of the trees on the approach end of the runway, but the right wing collided with the top of a tree. The glider spun around and fell into a small grove of trees short of the runway.
Factual narrative
On September 28, 2002, at 1300 central daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth, KA8B glider, N8747, registered to University of Tennessee Space Institute, and operated by a student pilot, collided with trees short of runway 6 during an approach to land at Tullahoma-Highland Rim Regional Airport, in Tullahoma, Tennessee. The instructional flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The glider sustained substantial damage. The student pilot was not injured. The flight departed Tullahoma, Tennessee, at 1130, on September 28, 2002.
According to the student pilot, he was on his 17th solo flight at the time of the accident. After getting a car-tow, he climbed to 1100 feet, and maneuvered until he had descended to 600 feet. At this altitude, the student pilot elected to return to the airport. He entered the left traffic pattern for runway 06. As he turned onto the base leg of the approach, he realized that he was low and the wind continued to blow the glider away from the runway. Concerned about the loss of altitude, the pilot raised the nose in an effort to extend the glide. The student pilot said that this maneuver allowed the glider to clear most of the trees on the approach end of the runway, but the right wing collided with the top of a tree. The glider spun around and fell into a small grove of trees short of the runway.
The student pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the glider.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8747
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth KA8B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 8639-SH
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- David A. Ball
- Registered owner
- University Tn Space Institute
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- THA · Tullahoma, TN
- Airport
- KTHA · Tullahoma Regional Airport, runway 06, 5,400 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 24
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 19 total · 3 in this make and model · 4 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 1018.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MQY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.