- Date
- October 6, 2024, 14:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- Front Royal, VA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N341KSSchleicher ASK-21
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20241006014879A
- Case key
- 195306
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 improper landing flare and subsequent improper recovery from a hard, bounced landing.
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 glider pilot reported the purpose of the flight was to work on landings, so he requested a “pattern tow” from the tow pilot. He released the towline on a 45° entry to the downwind leg and proceeded to fly a standard right-hand traffic pattern. The pilot stated that he kept his airbrakes in the “mostly closed” position from the final approach segment through landing. Upon touching down short of his intended aim point, the pilot reported that the glider bounced and entered a pilot-induced-oscillation, bouncing a few more times down the runway, and resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N341KS
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASK-21
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 21752
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 5,291.7
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Skyline Soaring Club Inc
- Registered owner
- Skyline Soaring Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 12, 2024
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- FRR · Front Royal-Warren County, runway 28, 3,008 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 60
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- May 28, 2024
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 101 total · 80 in this make and model · 33 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- LUA, 19 nm away
- METAR
- KLUA 061835Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM 27/14 A3002 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 8, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.2 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.