- Date
- September 6, 2025, 16:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Ridgeland, SC
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N231LSLet L-23 Super Blanik
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- 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
- 20250906017079A
- Case key
- 200972
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 exceedance of the glider’s critical angle of attack which resulted in a loss of control while maneuvering to return for landing after a runway overshoot.
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
The pilot was conducting her second solo flight in pursuit of a glider rating for her private pilot certificate. The pilot stated that while in the airport traffic pattern, she was too high on the base leg and made several 360° turns near the south end of the runway in an attempt to lose altitude. After leveling off, she realized she was still too high and entered a slip without the use of the spoilers, but the glider floated toward the departure end of the runway. With little runway remaining, she attempted a right turn, but the left wing dropped, consistent with an aerodynamic stall, and contacted the ground. The glider came to rest upright in a grassy area near the end of the runway. The fuselage and left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N231LS
- Reported as
- Let L-23 Super Blanik
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 938020
- Built
- 1993
- Airframe hours
- 1,036
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Lowcountry Soaring Association
- Registered owner
- Lowcountry Soaring Association
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 2, 2025
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- 3J1 · Ridgeland-Claude Dean, runway 36, 2,600 × 120 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
- 55
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 15, 2025
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 401 total · 10 in this make and model · 345 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
- Observed at
- ARW, 19 nm away
- METAR
- KARW 062035Z AUTO 14006KT 10SM CLR 31/22 A2997 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 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.