Schweizer SGS 1-35 N2540H

Summary

On 8 September 2001 at about 20:20 local time, a Schweizer SGS 1-35 registered N2540H was involved in an accident near Cumberland, Maryland, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 September 2001 at 20:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Cumberland, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Greater Cumberland Regional (CBE)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Schweizer SGS 1-35

Registration

N2540H

Category

Airplane

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cumberland → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC01LA225

Nobody was injured.

The pilot misjudged distance and altitude. A factor was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the glider.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to the accident flight, the pilot had not flown the same make and model as the accident glider. After soaring for several minutes, the pilot entered a downwind leg for runway 29 at 500 feet agl. On base leg, he extended the flaps to 30 degrees. The glider initially "ballooned," and the pilot maintained a 55-knot approach speed. The pilot then realized he was "too fast" and "too high." He then extended the flaps to 80 degrees, and performed a forward slip. The pilot's attention was diverted to another glider landing ahead of him, and the accident glider's spoiler/flap combination was not as effective as other models he had flown. The pilot touched down to the right of the glider ahead of him, on the grass adjacent to the runway, and more than 1,800 feet beyond the approach end of the 2,442-foot long, asphalt, runway. The glider then bounced several times, and traveled off the end of the runway into a fence. The reported wind at the airport, about 25 minutes prior to the accident, was from 140 degrees at 4 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.