NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA22LA388
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The glider’s encounter with atmospheric conditions where the lift was not sufficient to maintain flight, which resulted in an off-airport landing.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during the return flight to the airport, the glider encountered more downdrafts than he expected, and that the glider did not have sufficient altitude to reach the airport. During the subsequent forced landing into trees and shrubby, the glider’s fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the glider that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Thermal lifting-Effect on operation
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Attain/maintain not possible
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2022_ERA22LA388.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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