- Date
- October 4, 2014, 11:20 local (15:20 UTC)
- Place
- Waynesboro, VA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N3619TSchweizer SGS 2 33A
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Windshear or thunderstorm
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 7, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20141004019079A
- Case key
- 90226
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's inadvertent encounter with low altitude wind shear.
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
According to the pilot, there were some areas of turbulence during the glider's aero tow to 3,000 feet, but the tow was uneventful. The flight was then smooth until descent to about 1,200 feet above ground level, when conditions became "bumpy." Upon entering the traffic pattern for runway 24, the pilot increased normal approach airspeed by 10 knots in anticipation of gusty headwinds on final approach. The approach then proceeded "normally" until short final, when the glider encountered a "rogue" wind gust that "violently" rolled it about 90 degrees to the right, heading it away from runway centerline. By the time the pilot was able to level the wings, the glider was too low, necessitating an off-airport landing into small trees that resulted in left wing spar damage. Winds, recorded at a nearby airport about the time of the accident, were from 260 degrees true at 13, gusting to 19 knots. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, there were some areas of turbulence during the glider's aero tow to 3,000 feet, but the tow was uneventful. The flight was then smooth until descent to about 1,200 feet above ground level, when conditions became "bumpy." Upon entering the traffic pattern for runway 24, the pilot increased normal approach airspeed by 10 knots in anticipation of gusty headwinds on final approach. The approach then proceeded "normally" until short final, when the glider encountered a "rogue" wind gust that "violently" rolled it about 90 degrees to the right, heading it away from runway centerline. By the time the pilot was able to level the wings, the glider was too low, necessitating an off-airport landing into small trees that resulted in left wing spar damage. Winds, recorded at a nearby airport about the time of the accident, were from 260 degrees true at 13, gusting to 19 knots. The pilot did not report any preexisting mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3619T
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 2 33A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 568
- Built
- 1981
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Shenandoah Valley Soaring Inc
- Registered owner
- Shenandoah Valley Soaring Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2014
- Departed
- W13 · Waynesboro, VA
- Destination
- W13 · Waynesboro, VA
- Airport
- W13 · Eagle'S Nest, runway 24, 2,004 × 50 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- March 14, 2014
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 595 total · 159 in this make and model · 417 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 13 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.72 inHg
- Observed at
- SHD, 11 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 2, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.4 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.