- Date
- October 19, 2013, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Eighty Four, PA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2997HSchweizer SGS 1 26E
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 13, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20131019023779A
- Case key
- 88362
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 pilot's failure to maintain proper airspeed and glide path, which resulted in an overshoot, a hard landing, and a subsequent collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of total experience in make and model.
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 pilot was conducting his second solo flight in the glider. Witnesses reported that the glider appeared fast while maneuvering in the traffic pattern for landing. The pilot stated that the glider was high on final approach and he lowered the nose and attempted a slip maneuver; however, the glider touched down hard, beyond the mid-point of the 2,260 foot-long runway. It then bounced, became airborne, and was still flying too fast to land on the remaining runway. In an attempt to avoid obstacles that were located beyond the end and right side of the runway, the pilot maneuvered to the left and the glider subsequently impacted trees. The right wing separated and the left wing was substantially damaged. The pilot did not report any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the glider. He further reported that he had accumulated about 530 hours of total flight experience, which included about 18 hours in gliders, and .5 hours in the same make and model as the accident glider.
Factual narrative
The pilot was conducting his second solo flight in the glider. Witnesses reported that the glider appeared fast while maneuvering in the traffic pattern for landing. The pilot stated that the glider was high on final approach and he lowered the nose and attempted a slip maneuver; however, the glider touched down hard, beyond the mid-point of the 2,260 foot-long runway. It then bounced, became airborne, and was still flying too fast to land on the remaining runway. In an attempt to avoid obstacles that were located beyond the end and right side of the runway, the pilot maneuvered to the left and the glider subsequently impacted trees. The right wing separated and the left wing was substantially damaged. The pilot did not report any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the glider. He further reported that he had accumulated about 530 hours of total flight experience, which included about 18 hours in gliders, and .5 hours in the same make and model as the accident glider.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2997H
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1 26E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 697
- Built
- 1979
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2013
- Departed
- 22D · Eighty Four, PA
- Destination
- 22D · Eighty Four, PA
- Airport
- 22D · Bandel, runway 19, 2,260 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 64
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Student, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Single
- Flight hours
- 530 total · 1 in this make and model · 397 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.80 inHg
- Observed at
- AFJ, 9 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 5, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.6 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.