NTSB Identification: ATL02LA027.
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Accident occurred Saturday, December 29, 2001 in Benton, TN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 04/29/2003
Aircraft: Flugzeugbau DG-200, registration: N5457T
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.The glider pilot was flying north in a ridge lift about 400 feet above a plateau area where he had previously found good thermals. He started a turn towards the front of the ridge towards a valley and encountered a severe sink rate. He continued the turn and the sink rate increased between 1,500 to 3,000 feet per minute and the glider collided with trees. The pilot did not experienced a mechanical failure or malfunction of the airframe or flight control system.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a downdraft while maneuvering in a ridge lift during a turn resulting in an in-flight collision with trees. Full narrative availableIndex for Dec2001 | Index of months