- Date
- June 20, 2021, 16:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wellington, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2851HSchweizer SGS 1-35
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of visual reference
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210620007909A
- Case key
- 103298
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 glider pilot’s loss of visual references during the landing approach resulting in an off-airport landing on rough sloping terrain.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The glider pilot reported that during base leg to final approach for landing, he lost sight of the runway, forcing him having to maneuver to avoid a house and to perform an off-field landing on rough sloping terrain. The glider impacted the ground hard, ground-looped, and came to rest in a large ditch. The glider sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and left wing. The pilot reported there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot also reported that this was his first landing at this airport and that he should have flown an orientation flight with another pilot familiar with the airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2851H
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-35
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 51
- Built
- 1976
- Airframe hours
- 1,993
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Smith Leonard I III
- Registered owner
- Smith Leonard I III
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 17, 2020
- Destination
- Same as departure
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- November 10, 2019
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 253 total · 208 in this make and model · 253 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- KFNL, 15 nm away
- METAR
- KFNL 202256Z 06011KT 10SM CLR 26/09 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP093 T02610089
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 16, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.