Accident LET L-23 Super Blaník N400AZ,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 168225
 
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Date:Monday 14 July 2014
Time:14:35
Type:Silhouette image of generic ll23 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
LET L-23 Super Blaník
Owner/operator:Civil Air Patrol
Registration: N400AZ
MSN: 998702
Total airframe hrs:2688 hours
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Warm Springs, GA -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Roosevelt Memorial Airport 5A9, Warm Springs
Destination airport:Warm Springs 5A9
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
A landing glider collided with another glider on the active runway. The flight instructor of the glider on the runway stated that he and the student pilot landed the glider and that it came to rest about 1,000 ft from the runway threshold. The instructor was having a conversation with the air boss while the glider was still on the runway when it was struck from behind by the landing glider. The air boss indicated that, during this conversation, he watched the second glider turn from the base to the final leg in the traffic pattern and then land. The flight instructor of the second glider stated that he and the student pilot landed just beyond the displaced threshold markers at the approach end of the runway and that both he and the student applied “maximum braking” but were unable to stop the glider before impacting the glider on the runway. According to both flight instructors, they had performed numerous landings that day in their respective gliders as part of the training requirements for the students. Both glider instructors reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with either glider that would have precluded normal operation.
The Civil Air Patrol procedures stated that, after landing and coming to rest, each glider was to be removed from the runway and that at no time was a glider to be on the runway while another glider was landing. Federal Aviation Administration regulations and guidance indicated that the landing glider has the right-of-way over all aircraft on the surface and that, after landing, the pilot “should move or taxi the glider clear of all runways.” Given that the air boss watched the landing glider turn from base to final leg in the traffic pattern while talking to the instructor in the glider on the runway, it is likely that the instructor would have had sufficient time to move the glider off the runway before the other glider landed, which would have prevented the accident. It is also likely that the instructor of the first glider was distracted by talking to the air boss and that neither he nor the air boss realized that the second glider was a concern until it was too late. The pilot of the glider on the runway should have moved the glider off the runway as soon as possible to allow the landing glider sufficient space to land without the possibility of a collision.

Probable Cause: The failure of the flight instructor to move his glider from an active runway in accordance with procedures due to his distraction by having a conversation with the air boss, which resulted in the landing glider colliding with the glider on the runway.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ERA14LA341
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
03-Aug-2014 01:51 Geno Added
21-Dec-2016 19:28 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
30-Nov-2017 18:53 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
31-May-2023 12:47 Ron Averes Updated [[Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]]

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