- Date
- June 3, 2026, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Gregory, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4101MBurkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- Defining event
- Landing: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 11, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260603005999A
- Case key
- 203229
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 flight instructor’s improper planning during the simulated aborted launch which resulted in a touchdown on unsuitable terrain.
Findings · 3
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 flight instructor reported that while practicing an immediate landing after liftoff, with the student pilot at the flight controls, the glider landed past the end of the runway in tall grass on a downward sloping hill. The left wing lowered and the glider pivoted and came to rest in a muddy area. The rudder sustained substantial damage during the landing. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor remarked that in the future he would plan to terminate the tow earlier so there would be sufficient runway remaining to land on and brief whether the terrain beyond the runway was suitable for landings.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4101M
- Reported as
- Burkhart Grob Flugzeugbau G103 Twin Astir
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 3796
- Built
- 1983
- Airframe hours
- 4,764.9
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Sandhill Soaring Club Inc.
- Registered owner
- Sandhill Soaring Club Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · November 15, 2025
- Departed
- 69G · Gregory, MI
- Airport
- 69G · Richmond Field Airport, runway 18, 2,471 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Unknown
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 24,908 total · 14,806 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1.3 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 52.5 total · 28.3 in this make and model · 8.9 as pilot in command · 5.1 in the last 90 days · 0.9 in the last 30 days · 0.4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KHTL, 27 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KHTL 031953Z AUTO 24004KT 10SM CLR 26/11 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP159 T02560111=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 11, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.3 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.
Other investigations on N4101M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.