NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI00LA193
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the downdraft experienced during final approach and altitude/clearance from the fence post not being maintained by the pilot. A factor to the accident was the fence post.
Factual narrative
On July 1, 2000, at 1530 eastern daylight time, a Schleicher K8B glider, N885D, piloted by a student pilot, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with a fence-post while on final approach to runway 18 (2,465 feet by 100 feet, dry/turf) at the Rossettie Airport, Manchester, Michigan. Visual metrological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The solo flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The local flight departed the Rossettie Airport, at an undetermined time. According to the student pilot's written statement, "Normal pattern approach[,] turned final with approx [approximately] 400 ft agl [feet above ground level], set spoilers for glide path & angle of descent. Encountered heavy sink, CDIT [controlled descent into terrain]." While on final approach the glider experienced higher than expected sink and the glider impacted a fence-post short of the runway. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2000_CHI00LA193.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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