# NTSB SEA01LA147: Schweizer SGS 1-26B, N5768S, Rock Island, WA, August 7, 2001 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: August 7, 2001, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC) - Place: Rock Island, WA - Coordinates: 47.31015, -120.080947 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.3102&lon=-120.0809&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report June 3, 2002 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA - Spokane FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 52997 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA01LA147 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/52997/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA01LA147 ## Probable cause The student pilot's improper inflight planning and decision (delay in establishing an approach to a suitable landing area) and his subsequent failure to attain the proper glidepath for the selected landing area, resulting in an overshoot of the selected landing area and collison with trees during landing. Factors included the pilot's lack of experience, and trees in the vicinity of the landing site. ## Analysis The accident flight was intended to be a solo cross-country instructional glider flight over a distance of about 29 nautical miles. The flight instructor stated that he instructed the student to climb to at least 6,000 feet above sea level (4,751 feet above the departure airport and 4,724 feet above the destination airport) prior to leaving the local area. The glider had a maximum lift-to-drag ratio of 23. The instructor reported that when the student failed to find lift, and after waiting until too low to return to the departure airport, he delayed selecting a safe landing site until only one option remained. The student's approach was high and was made with a tail wind. The glider overshot its intended landing area, a 400-foot-long open field, and landed between trees near a cherry orchard approximately 2 miles from the departure airport, sustaining substantial damage in the landing. The flight instructor reported that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the accident. The student pilot's certificate was issued about 1 1/2 months before the accident, and the student pilot's flight instructor reported that the student had 30 hours total pilot time including 8 hours in the accident make and model. ## Factual narrative On August 7, 2001, approximately 1330 Pacific daylight time, a Schweizer SGS 1-26B glider, N5768S, operated by Cascade Soaring Society Inc. of East Wenatchee, Washington, and being flown by a student pilot, was substantially damaged in an off-airport landing near Rock Island, Washington. The pilot of the single-seat glider was not injured in the accident. The 14 CFR 91 instructional flight had departed approximately 1300 from Pangborn Memorial Airport, Wenatchee, Washington, on an intended cross-country flight to Ephrata, Washington. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight. The student pilot's certificate was issued on June 29, 2001. The student pilot's flight instructor, who towed the student to altitude on the accident flight and who completed an NTSB accident report form on behalf of the student, reported that the student had 30 hours total pilot time, including 8 hours in the accident make and model. The flight instructor stated: ...[The student] had been instructed to climb to at least 6,000 [feet] MSL prior to leaving the local area. He may have left too low. When he failed to find lift and [too] low to return to Pangborn without finding lift he delayed selecting a safe landing site until only one option remained. His approach was high and a tail wind spoiled his [judgment]. His landing was 150 feet from a cherry orchard (with 400 feet of open field behind). He aimed between trees and received no injuries. The off-airport landing site was approximately 2 miles east of the airport. The flight instructor reported that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the accident. According to the 1997 Soaring Sailplane Directory, published by the Soaring Society of America, the SGS 1-26B has a maximum lift/drag ratio (L/D max) of 23 at 43 knots. Pangborn Memorial's elevation is 1,249 feet above sea level, and Ephrata Municipal Airport (approximately 29 nautical miles east-southeast of Pangborn Memorial) is 1,276 feet above sea level. The flight instructor reported that winds at the time were from 250 degrees at 7 to 8 knots. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, landing - in-flight planning/decision - improper, pilot in command (cause) - lack of experience, pilot in command (contributing factor) - weather condition - tailwind (contributing factor) - proper glidepath - not attained, pilot in command (cause) - proper touchdown point - not attained, pilot in command - object - tree(s) (contributing factor) - In flight collision with terrain/water, landing ## Aircraft - Registration: [N5768S](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N5768S-2004-05-25), registration cancelled 2004-05-25, S/N 394, built 1968 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Schweizer SGS 1-26B - Registry model: [Schweizer SGS 1-26B](https://openairdocs.org/model/schweizer-sgs-1-26b) (registry code 8050118) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [NONE](https://openairdocs.org/engine/none) (registry code 00000, none) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Glider - Serial number: 394 - Airframe hours: 1557.9 - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Instructional, Part 91 - Registered owner: Cascade Soaring Society Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Aerobatic - Last inspection: Annual, June 19, 2001, 27 hours before - Departed: EAT, Wenatchee, WA - Destination: EPH, Ephrata, WA - Airport: EAT, Pangborn Memorial ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 18; injuries: none; student; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; seat: center; flight hours: 30 total, 8 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days, 20 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 250° at 7 knots, gusting 8 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 79 °F From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.