Let L-23 SUPER BLANIK N10BR

Summary

On 21 June 2023 at about 19:30 local time, a Let L-23 SUPER BLANIK registered N10BR, operated by Sandhill Soaring Club Inc, was involved in an accident near Gregory, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 June 2023 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Gregory, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

42.4421, -84.0644

Aircraft

Let L-23 SUPER BLANIK

Registration

N10BR

Category

Glider

Year built

1991

Operator

Sandhill Soaring Club Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23LA254

1 person was seriously injured.

The flight instructor’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the glider’s critical angle of attack, leading to an aerodynamic stall during the off-field landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot reported that he was flying the glider until about 10 minutes before the accident, when the flight instructor took over control and started looking for thermals to gain altitude. He said the flight instructor was mostly quiet until he said they were going to perform an off-field landing. The glider flew across a tree line about 150 ft above ground level and turned to land in a bean field. Neither the student nor the flight instructor had any recollection of the accident. Postaccident examination showed that the forward fuselage was crushed upward, and rearward and the outboard 6 ft of the left wing was separated. The separation point had signatures indicating upward bending of the tip. The damage to the glider was consistent with a nose-low, left-wing-low impact. Flight control continuity was verified from the cockpit to all control surfaces. No anomalies were detected. Based on the available information, the glider likely had insufficient altitude to return to the departure airstrip and the flight instructor attempted an off-field landing. The nose-low, left-wing-low impact suggested that the instructor likely exceeded the glider’s critical angle of attack and encountered an aerodynamic stall at low altitude during the landing attempt.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.