- Date
- June 23, 1997, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rochester, VT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1043GEiriavion PIK-20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970623048069A
- Case key
- 39386
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 inadequate evaluation of the weather that consisted of downdrafts and his inadequate start procedures that resulted in a forced landing and collision with trees.
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
The pilot was on a non-stop round-trip flight in a motorized glider as a contestant in a competition flight. En route he encountered sinking air and tried to start the engine. He was unable to start it and believed that he had flooded the engine, which he later attributed to 'the pressure of the circumstances.' According to the pilot, he then selected a field to land, but the glider collided with trees about 300 feet short of the field.
Factual narrative
On June 23, 1997, about 1530 eastern daylight time, a Eiriavion Oy, PIK-20E, N1043G, a motorized glider, was substantially damaged during a forced landing in Rochester, Vermont. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight which departed from Springfield, Vermont, about 1215. No flight plan had been filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot reported that he participated in a competition flight that departed Springfield, Vermont. The plan was to overfly Warren, Vermont, and return to Springfield. In the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot stated:
"Flew the glider in vicinity of Hartness/Springfield airport ~ 1hour, then set for Sugarbush, VT, up Rte 100 valley. Fair progress ~ 4-5000' ASL, but over Rochester, VT, hit severe sink, tried to start engine, but probably flooded it, sinking ~ 1000'/min. Selected hayed field, flew pattern, but sink put me in trees on final 300' short of field...."
An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated:
"...During a discussion as to why the engine did not start, he...stated that he probably flooded it. He said the engine always runs good, but it floods very easy and then will not start. He said he is sure that because of the pressure of the circumstances that he flooded the engine. Due to his close proximity ot the ground he did not have time to attempt another start, he was concerned with flying the aircraft...."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1043G
- Reported as
- Eiriavion PIK-20E
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20221
- Airframe hours
- 304
- Engine
- Rotax 501, 43 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Philip B. Stoddard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 1997 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- VSF · Springfield, VT
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 453 total · 304 in this make and model · 4 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RUT, 24 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.