- Date
- May 28, 2010, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Jacksonville, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N36204Schweizer SGS 1-36
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Loss of lift
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100528038049A
- Case key
- 76154
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 delayed decision to divert following a loss of thermal lift.
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 pilot stated that his glider was towed to 3,000 feet above ground level (AGL) for a local soaring flight. He climbed the glider to 6,000 feet in a training area about 13 miles from the departure airport, where he "encountered sink." The pilot then obtained a landing clearance at an airport about 8 miles from his position, but the glider continued to sink, and struck an airport perimeter fence short of the landing runway. The off-airport landing resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage structures. According to the glider's Pilot Operating Manual, the maximum glide ratio at maximum gross weight was 31:1. The pilot reported there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the glider.
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that his glider was towed to 3,000 feet above ground level (AGL) for a local soaring flight. He climbed the glider to 6,000 feet in a training area about 13 miles from the departure airport, where he "encountered sink." The pilot then obtained a landing clearance at an airport about 8 miles from his position, but the glider continued to sink, and struck an airport perimeter fence short of the landing runway. The off-airport landing resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage structures. According to the glider's Pilot Operating Manual, the maximum glide ratio at maximum gross weight was 31:1. The pilot reported there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the glider.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N36204
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-36
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 35
- Airframe hours
- 1,362
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Nfss Inc
- Registered owner
- Nfss Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 6, 2010
- Departed
- HEG · Jacksonville, FL
- Destination
- HEG · Jacksonville, FL
- Airport
- KVQQ · Cecil Field Airport, runway 09L, 8,002 × 200 ft, concrete
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
- 51
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 3, 2009
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 1,069 total · 60 in this make and model · 923 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.78 inHg
- Observed at
- KVQQ
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 21, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 624 KB 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.