- Date
- June 27, 2018, 15:20 local (21:20 UTC)
- Place
- Boulder, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N134BCSchweizer SGS 1 34
- Defining event
- Landing: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 18, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180627008709A
- Case key
- 97663
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 pilot’s improper landing flare in gusting crosswind conditions, which resulted in a hard landing.
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 solo student pilot reported that, during landing, about 10 ft above ground, the glider was "hit by a tail gust/downdraft," then it landed hard. The glider sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 8 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 170° at 10 knots, gusting to 14 knots. The pilot landed the glider on runway 8G.
Factual narrative
The solo student pilot reported that, during landing, about 10 ft above ground, the airplane was "hit by a tail gust/downdraft" and the glider landed hard. The glider sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The automated weather observation station located on the airport reported that, about 8 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 170° at 10 knots, gusting 14 knots. The glider landed on runway 8G.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N134BC
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1 34 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 85
- Built
- 1973
- Airframe hours
- 5,015
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Soaring Society Of Boulder Inc
- Registered owner
- Soaring Society Of Boulder Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 29, 2017
- Departed
- BDU · Boulder, CO
- Destination
- BDU · Boulder, CO
- Airport
- BDU · Boulder Muni, runway 8G, 4,100 × 20 ft, grass/turf
- 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
- Student pilot
- Age
- 15
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 32.4 total · 6.5 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 10 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- KBDU, 1 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 4, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 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.