- Date
- May 13, 2018, 15:36 local (19:36 UTC)
- Place
- Tunbridge, VT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9915JSchweizer SGS123
- Defining event
- Enroute: Loss of lift
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180513007149A
- Case key
- 97269
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 student glider’s inability to maintain altitude due to a loss of thermal lift, which resulted in an off-airport landing.
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 solo student glider pilot reported that, during the return flight to the airport, he was unable to maintain enough lift and did not have enough altitude to cross a section of forest between his location and the airport. After he selected a field for landing, during the base leg turn, he determined that he did not have enough altitude to clear a line of trees at the threshold of the field. He then continued straight ahead, parallel to the line of trees, and impacted the ground in a small clearing. The glider sustained substantial damage to the left wing and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The solo student glider pilot reported that, during the return flight to the airport, he was unable to find enough lift and did not have enough altitude to cross a section of forest between his location and the airport. After he selected a field for landing, during the base leg turn, he determined that he did not have enough altitude to clear a line of trees at the threshold of the field. He then continued straight ahead, parallel to the line of trees, and impacted the ground in a small clearing. The glider sustained substantial damage to the left wing and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9915J
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS123 (H15)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 71
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 1,035
- Engine
- none
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Post Mills Soaring Club Inc, doing business as Post Mills Soaring Club
- Registered owner
- Post Mills Soaring Club Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 22, 2017
- Departed
- 2B9 · Post Mills, VT
- Destination
- 2B9 · Post Mills, VT
- Equipment
- None
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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 114 total · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 9 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- KLEB, 17 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 2, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.0 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.