- Date
- July 26, 2019, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wurtsboro, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N57LKSchempp Hirth Ventus 2A
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Cabin safety event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 13, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190726015689A
- Case key
- 99969
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 properly secure the glider’s canopy before flight, which resulted in it opening in flight and the pilot's inability to maintain an appropriate final approach path and altitude, which resulted in impact with a shipping container.
Findings · 6
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 reported that, while being towed, the glider began to climb, and the canopy opened. The pilot released the glider from the tow airplane, and he reached up and closed the canopy. He decreased the glider's airspeed and made a 180° right turn to final. On final, the glider was high, and he deployed the airbrakes, but the canopy opened again. The pilot closed the canopy and held it shut with his left hand while trying to control the glider with his right hand, but the altitude decreased "very quickly." The glider's wingtip struck a shipping container just short of the runway. The glider sustained substantial damage to the left wing and the 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 glider pilot reported that, while being towed the glider began to climb and the canopy opened. The pilot released the glider from the tow airplane, and he reached up and closed the canopy. He recalled that he decreased the glider's airspeed, and he made a 180° right turn to final. On final, the glider was high, and he deployed the airbrakes, but the canopy opened again. The pilot closed the canopy and held it shut with his left hand, while trying to control the glider with his right hand, but the glider's altitude decreased "very quickly." The glider's wingtip struck a shipping container that was just short of the runway. The glider sustained substantial damage to the left wing and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N57LK
- Reported as
- Schempp Hirth Ventus 2A (No Series)
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 137
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 876.8
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 2018
- Departed
- N82 · Wurtsboro, NY
- Destination
- N82 · Wurtsboro, NY
- Airport
- N82 · Wurtsboro-Sullivan County, runway 05, 3,591 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display
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
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Last flight review
- August 13, 2017
- Seat
- Single
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 174 total · 150 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- KMGJ, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 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.