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ATL82DA081

1982-03-05 · MARION, North Carolina, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 9A9

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

WHILE TURNING FROM DOWNWIND THROUGH BASE TO FINAL APPROACH FOR LANDING, THE PILOT NOTED A STRONG TAILWIND. HE REPORTED THAT THE TAILWIND BLEW THE GLIDER ACROSS THE RUNWAY AND OVER THE BOUNDARY FENCE. HE ANGLED BACK TO CLEAR THE FENCE AND LAND ON THE RUNWAY WHEN HE ENCOUNTERED WIND SHEAR AND LOST ABOUT 20 KNOTS OF AIRSPEED. AT THE SAME TIME, HE ENCOUNTERED TURBULENCE WHICH HE BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY TREES ON THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE RUNWAY. AT ABOUT 10 FT AGL, THE LEFT WING DROPPED AND STRUCK THE RUNWAY. WHEN THE LEFT WING STRUCK THE RUNWAY, THE GLIDER WAS TURNED ABRUPTLY TO THE LEFT AND WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. THE WIND WAS VARIABLE AND RANGED FROM CALM TO GUSTY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_ATL82DA081.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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