- Date
- August 5, 2006, 14:57 local (18:57 UTC)
- Place
- Tipton, IN
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N888TKShempp-Hirth Discuss B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Indianapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20060805027859A
- Case key
- 64609
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 improper in-flight decision to continue searching for thermal lift, instead of landing when the glider was in range of a suitable landing area. Contributing factors to the accident was the lack of thermal lift which resulted in a hard landing in the cornfield.
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
The glider pilot was seriously injured during an off-field landing. The pilot reported that while maneuvering near a suitable landing area the glider encountered an area of sinking air. The pilot stated that instead of landing in the available open, uncultivated field, he elected to maneuver toward a "better looking cloud a mile or so further west and away from my selected landing field." The pilot reported that, "On the way to this cloud I encountered strong sinking air, which often surrounds a thermal." The pilot stated that he eventually elected to turn back towards where he came from, but encountered "even heavier-sinking air" and that he did not have enough altitude to glide back to his selected landing site. The pilot reported that the only landing areas available at that time were established cornfields. The pilot stated that he "made a carefully controlled descent into the corn, so not to put one wing in first and cause a cartwheel landing." The pilot reported the glider traveled about 40 feet into the corn crop before the airplane decelerated and dropped "vertically from about 3 to 4 feet." The pilot fractured three vertebrae during the hard landing. The glider sustained minor damage, limited to the gear doors.
Factual narrative
The glider pilot was seriously injured during an off-field landing. The pilot reported that while maneuvering near a suitable landing area the glider encountered an area of sinking air. The pilot stated that instead of landing in the available open, uncultivated field, he elected to maneuver toward a "better looking cloud a mile or so further west and away from my selected landing field." The pilot reported that, "On the way to this cloud I encountered strong sinking air, which often surrounds a thermal." The pilot stated that he eventually elected to turn back towards where he came from, but encountered "even heavier-sinking air" and that he did not have enough altitude to glide back to his selected landing site. The pilot reported that the only landing areas available at that time were established cornfields. The pilot stated that he "made a carefully controlled descent into the corn, so not to put one wing in first and cause a cartwheel landing." The pilot reported the glider traveled about 40 feet into the corn crop before the airplane decelerated and dropped "vertically from about 3 to 4 feet." The pilot fractured three vertebrae during the hard landing. The glider sustained minor damage, limited to the gear doors.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N888TK
- Reported as
- Shempp-Hirth Discuss B
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 134
- Airframe hours
- 1,852
- Engine
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2006
- Departed
- I99 · Alexandria, IN
- Destination
- I99
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
- 75
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2004
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 1,034 total · 116 in this make and model · 980 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- MIE, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.