- Date
- July 6, 2014, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Mocksville, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N9156Alexander Schleicher K 7
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Flight control sys malf/fail
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20140706014619A
- Case key
- 89639
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 decision to install an additional cushion to elevate his passenger and his failure to insure the cushion would not interfere with the control stick movement resulting in limited movement of the elevator in flight and collision with a fence during an emergency off field landing.
Findings · 4
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 reported that just prior to departing on the glider flight, an unsecured seat cushion was provided to his passenger in order to elevate his seating position and improve his view. After releasing from the tow plane, performing a 30-degree bank turn, and leveling the glider, the pilot was unable to move the control stick fully aft in the pitch axis. He attempted to troubleshoot the blocked flight control, and asked the passenger if he noted any obstructions, which he did not. During the subsequent forced landing, the pilot was unable to safely maneuver to the departure gliderport, and landed in an adjacent field where the glider struck a fence, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that his examination of the aft cockpit following the accident revealed the seat cushion had shifted during flight, blocked the control stick, and that the cushion's internal metal frame and the aft control stick displayed witness marks consistent with contact during flight.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that just prior to departing on the glider flight, an unsecured seat cushion was provided to his passenger in order to elevate his seating position and improve his view. After releasing from the tow plane, performing a 30-degree bank turn, and leveling the glider, the pilot was unable to move the control stick fully aft in the pitch axis. He attempted to troubleshoot the blocked flight control, and asked the passenger if he noted any obstructions, which he did not. During the subsequent forced landing, the pilot was unable to safely maneuver to the departure gliderport, and landed in an adjacent field where the glider struck a fence, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that his examination of the aft cockpit following the accident revealed the seat cushion had shifted during flight, blocked the control stick, and that the cushion's internal metal frame and the aft control stick displayed witness marks consistent with contact during flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9156
- Reported as
- Alexander Schleicher K 7
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 7032
- Built
- 1962
- Airframe hours
- 3,178
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Piedmont Soaring Society
- Registered owner
- Piedmont Soaring Society
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 27, 2013
- Departed
- 43NC · Mocksville, NC
- Destination
- 43NC · Mocksville, NC
- Airport
- 43NC · Bahnson, runway 01, 3,000 × 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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 132 total · 12 in this make and model · 93 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- INT, 16 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 30, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.0 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.