- Date
- April 20, 2026, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Greenwood, SC · open field
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N27CUAlexander Schleicher ASW 27-18
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: Loss of lift
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 17, 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
- 20260420006739A
- Case key
- 202950
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 pilot’s encounter with a strong sink/loss of lift, which resulted in a forced landing to unsuitable terrain.
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 glider pilot reported that he was participating in a racing competition. He was able to find thermals up to 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl) and later could not climb higher than 4,500 ft msl. At that time, the glider was about 20 miles from his intended destination, which the pilot thought he could reach; however, the glider subsequently encountered a strong sink, and he could not find any more thermals. Unable to glide to an airport, he attempted a forced landing to a field. During the forced landing, the left wing contacted a swale in the middle of the field. The glider spun, the tailboom also contacted the swale and separated, and the glider came to rest upright. The pilot also reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N27CU
- Reported as
- Alexander Schleicher ASW 27-18
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 29058
- Built
- 2010
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- SC95 · Perry, SC
- Equipment
- Data recorder
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 5, 2025
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,933 total · 1,171 in this make and model · 39 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.24 inHg
- Observed at
- GRD, 7 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KGRD 201856Z AUTO 10SM CLR 22/01 A3024 RMK AO2 SLP238 T02220006
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 17, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.8 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.