- Date
- March 20, 1997, 14:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Benton, TN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N33WPSchweizer SGS 1-26E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970320010209A
- Case key
- 38231
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 failure of the pilot to maintain altitude and clearance from the trees on a ridge line.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While soaring along a ridge the pilot descended the glider to about 20 feet above the trees. As he made a turn away from the ridge the glider encountered heavy sink and descended. A wing tip caught a tree and the glider spun around and nosed into the trees where it came to rest.
Factual narrative
On March 20, 1997, about 1430 eastern standard time, a Schweizer SGS 1-26E, N33WP, registered to a private person, crashed while gliding near Benton, Tennessee, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the private-rated pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Benton, Tennessee, the same day, about 1345.
The pilot stated he received a tow to 3,000 feet. After he released, he made passes back and forth along a ridge line for about 40 minutes. The wind on the ridge decreased during this time and he elected to head north back toward the valley and the gliderport. He was about 20 feet above the ridge and as he turned toward the valley he encountered sinking air. The glider descended and the a wing tip caught a tree. The glider spun around and nosed down into the trees. The glider came to rest nose down in the trees, about 20 feet off the ground. The pilot climbed down and was rescued.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N33WP
- Reported as
- Schweizer SGS 1-26E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 638
- Airframe hours
- 611
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wendylene, Inc., doing business as Chilhowee Glider Port
- Registered owner
- Frank R. Trowbridge III
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 21, 1996 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- 92A
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
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 397 total · 95 in this make and model · 360 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CHA, 40 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.