- Date
- November 28, 1999, 16:40 local (21:40 UTC)
- Place
- Palmerton, PA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N117TBSchempp-Hirth Discus A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991128032059A
- Case key
- 47840
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 improper decision to delay his landing. A factor related to the accident was the loss of thermal lift.
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 ridge soaring, the pilot elected to delay his landing back to the airport. The sun became low on the horizon, and the glider began to loose lift. The pilot attempted to fly the glider close to a ridgeline in an attempt to gain lift, but could not locate the ridgeline due to a glare through the windscreen. The glider began to descend and the pilot performed a forced landing to a parking lot. The sun set below the horizon at 1637.
Factual narrative
On November 28, 1999, about 1640 Eastern Standard Time, a Schempp-Hirth Discus A glider, N117TB, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Palmerton, Pennsylvania. The certificated private glider pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration Inspector, the pilot departed the Beltzville Airport, Beltzville, Pennsylvania, under tow, for a local flight. While ridge soaring, the pilot elected to delay his landing back to the airport. The sun became low on the horizon, and the glider began to loose lift. The pilot attempted to fly the glider close to a ridgeline in an attempt to gain lift, but could not locate the ridgeline due to a glare through the windscreen. The glider began to descend and the pilot performed a forced landing to a parking lot. Approaching the parking lot, the left wing struck a tree, spinning the glider to the left. The glider then nosed into the ground, coming to rest upright.
The sun set below the horizon at 1637.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N117TB
- Reported as
- Schempp-Hirth Discus A
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 17
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thomas G. Beltz
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 3, 1999
- Departed
- 14N · Beltzville, PA
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
- 69
- Certificate
- Private
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,735 total · 1,115 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABE, 14 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.