- Date
- August 16, 2025, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Springfield, VT
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N99KGCentrair 101A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Flight control sys malf/fail
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 20, 2025
- 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
- 20250816011799A
- Case key
- 200802
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 assemble the glider’s elevator control before takeoff.
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
During his preflight assembly of the glider, the pilot got distracted and failed to connect the elevator control. During the subsequent takeoff, once the glider became airborne, the pilot realized there was no elevator control and immediately released himself from the tow airplane. The glider nosed down and impacted the ground resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and tail boom.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N99KG
- Reported as
- Centrair 101A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 101A0225
- Airframe hours
- 919.25
- Engine
- None, none
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 7, 2025
- Airport
- VSF · Hartness State Airport (Springfield), runway 5, 5,501 × 100 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 62
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Private, Commercial, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 5, 2021
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 26,000 total · 653 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 16 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
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- KVSF
- METAR
- KVSF 161754Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM FEW070 SCT090 28/18 A3008 RMK AO2 SLP185 T02830178 10294 20150 56023
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 20, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.3 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.