- Date
- July 20, 2008, 17:20 local (Jul 21, 2008, 00:20 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, WA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N48029Let Blanik L-13
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 28, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20080720857599A
- Case key
- 68514
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 maintain clearance from a tree while making an off-field landing in a glider. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate compensation for the gusting winds.
Findings · 4
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
After a 15-minute glider flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for a planned full-stop landing on a grass airstrip that ran adjacent to the active paved runway. He then extended his downwind leg in order to create a greater clearance between himself and a powered airplane that was landing on the paved runway. After rolling out on base leg, the pilot realized that he had extended his downwind leg too far to reach the grass strip under the gusting wind conditions. He therefore decided to land in a field short of the grass runway. While maneuvering to land in that field, he failed to maintain clearance from a nearby tree. After the wing of the glider hit the tree, it cart-wheeled into the field, and sustained wrinkling and crushing damage to both wings and fuselage.
Factual narrative
After a fifteen minute glider flight, the pilot entered the traffic pattern for a planned full-stop landing on a grass airstrip that ran adjacent to the active paved runway. He then extended his downwind leg in order to create a greater clearance between himself and a powered airplane that was landing on the paved runway. After rolling out on base leg, the pilot realized that he had extended his downwind leg too far to reach the grass strip under the current gusting wind conditions. He therefore decided to land in a field short of the grass runway. While maneuvering to land in that field, he failed to maintain clearance from a nearby tree. After the wing of the glider hit the tree, it cart wheeled into the field, and sustained wrinkling and crushing damage to both its wings and fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48029
- Reported as
- Let Blanik L-13
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 026050
- Engine
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Evergreen Soaring
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KAWO · Arlington, WA
- Destination
- KAWO
- Airport
- KAWO · Arlington Municipal, runway 34, 5,300 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 66
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Flight hours
- 30,000 total · 26 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 10 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 22, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 615 KB 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.