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ERA13CA035

2012-10-20 · Roseland, Virginia, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N/A

N4KN has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPISTREL TAURUS 503, built 2007), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain glider control during takeoff.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated that as the glider reached flying speed it began to oscillate with the right wing dipping and impacting the grass runway, which resulted in a loss of control. The tow line disconnected, as designed, and the glider came to rest in an inverted position. The pilot sustained minor injuries. A post-accident examination conducted by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the wings and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies with the glider that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that as the glider reached flying speed, it began to oscillate with the right wing dipping and impacting the grass runway, which resulted in a loss of control. The tow line disconnected, as designed, and the glider came to rest in an inverted position. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the wings and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures 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.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Lateral/bank control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_ERA13CA035.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers