Skip to content

CEN25LA271

2025-07-19 · Kerrick, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 5TE4

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The glider’s encounter with atmospheric conditions where the lift was not sufficient to maintain flight.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while flying his glider, he was unable to maintain enough altitude to return to the departure airport, so he performed a forced landing to an alternate airport with a closed runway. During the landing rollout, the right wing of the glider struck a metal fence post, The glider pivoted and the left wing struck the barbed wire. The pilot said that he did not see the fence post because of the vegetation covering it. Both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the glider that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Aircraft capability-Climb capability-Attain/maintain not possible
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Thermal lifting-Effect on operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_CEN25LA271.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.