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ERA21LA327

2021-07-31 · Sterling, Massachusetts, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 3B3

Current FAA registration · N373BA

Make / Model
LET L-23 SUPER BLANIK
Year of manufacture
2000 · 21 years old at event
Engine
NONE NONE
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20000630
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A43F0A

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor’s lack of remedial action, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall in the landing flare and a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that student pilot was flying the glider as it approached to land with the air brakes in the fully extended position. As the student pilot attempted to flare, the glider pitched up and stalled several feet above the runway, resulting in a hard landing. During the hard landing, the glider sustained minor damage and the student pilot was not injured; however, the flight instructor was seriously injured. The flight instructor added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the glider and he should have had his hands in close proximity to the controls to be ready to prevent any abrupt inputs and take control if required. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Instructor/check pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Pitch control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Capability exceeded

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_ERA21LA327.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). All research papers