Shempp-Hirth DISCUSS B N888TK

Summary

On 5 August 2006 at about 18:57 local time, a Shempp-Hirth DISCUSS B registered N888TK was involved in an accident near Tipton, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 August 2006 at 18:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Tipton, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

40.3428, -86.0736

Aircraft

Shempp-Hirth DISCUSS B

Registration

N888TK

Category

Glider

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alexandria → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06CA219

1 person was seriously injured.

The glider pilot's improper in-flight decision to continue searching for thermal lift, instead of landing when the glider was in range of a suitable landing area. Contributing factors to the accident was the lack of thermal lift which resulted in a hard landing in the cornfield.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The glider pilot was seriously injured during an off-field landing. The pilot reported that while maneuvering near a suitable landing area the glider encountered an area of sinking air. The pilot stated that instead of landing in the available open, uncultivated field, he elected to maneuver toward a "better looking cloud a mile or so further west and away from my selected landing field." The pilot reported that, "On the way to this cloud I encountered strong sinking air, which often surrounds a thermal." The pilot stated that he eventually elected to turn back towards where he came from, but encountered "even heavier-sinking air" and that he did not have enough altitude to glide back to his selected landing site. The pilot reported that the only landing areas available at that time were established cornfields. The pilot stated that he "made a carefully controlled descent into the corn, so not to put one wing in first and cause a cartwheel landing." The pilot reported the glider traveled about 40 feet into the corn crop before the airplane decelerated and dropped "vertically from about 3 to 4 feet." The pilot fractured three vertebrae during the hard landing. The glider sustained minor damage, limited to the gear doors.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.