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FTW85LA217

1985-05-11 · CHATTANOOGA, Oklahoma, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 92F

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS TOW LAUNCHING A GLIDER. WHEN ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL AND FOR UNKNOWN REASONS THE GLIDER SUDDENLY GAINED UNWANTED ALTITUDE AND CLIMBED ABOVE THE TOW PLANE. THIS PITCHED THE NOSE OF THE TOW PLANE DOWNWARD BEFORE THE TOW LINE COULD BE RELEASED. RELEASE WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY BOTH PILOTS, HOWEVER, THE TOW PLANE WAS UNABLE TO RECOVER AND GROUND IMPACT OCCURRED AT ABOUT A 45 DEGREE NOSE DOWN ALTITUDE WITH THE LEFT WING LOW. THE GLIDER PILOT CIRCLED BACK TO THE RUNWAY AND MADE A SUCCESSFUL LANDING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_FTW85LA217.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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