Event NYC95LA040

Factual narrative

On December 3, 1994, at 1352 eastern standard time, a Grob 103A glider, N858BG, operated by Eastern Mountain Soaring of Blairstown, New Jersey, struck trees while on approach to land at Blairstown Airport. The glider received substantial damage. The two occupants were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the flight which operated under 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot reported this was the second flight of the day. Upon return to the airport, the glider encountered lift on final approach and initially, the glider was high. He had difficulity in getting realigned with the runway due to reduced visibility from a front seat passenger. While he concentrated on his runway lineup, the altitude decreased until the glider was too low to reach the runway. The glider fuselage wheel fuselage wheel struck the top of a hill and then the left wing struck a tree about 3 feet inboard from the tip. The glider yawed nose left and came to rest. The fuselage, aft of the cabin was bent and the left wing was damaged. The pilot reported he had a total time of 120 hours, and 59 hours in the Grob 103. He had a flight review in the first part of October and had not flown since the flight review. THE GLIDER PILOT ENTERED THE DOWNWIND, WITH HIS ALTITUDE ABOUT 100 FT BELOW HIS DESIRED ALTITUDE. ON FINAL, HE ENCOUNTERED SOME LIFT AND ATTEMPTED TO CONTINUE THE DESCENT. THE LIFT ALSO CAUSED THE GLIDER TO BECOME MISALIGNED WITH THE RUNWAY. THE PILOT WAS FLYING FROM THE REAR SEAT WITH A PILOT RATED PASSENGER IN THE FRONT SEAT. HE HAD DIFFICULTY IN SEEING THE RUNWAY DUE TO THE PASSENGER IN THE FRONT SEAT. DURING THE REALIGNMENT, THE GLIDER STARTED TO SINK AND BY THE TIME THE PILOT REALIZED THIS, THE GLIDER WAS TOO LOW TO REACH THE RUNWAY. THE GLIDER BOUNCED OFF A SMALL RISE PRIOR TO THE RUNWAY. THE LEFT WING THEN STRUCK A SMALL TREE AND THE GLIDER TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN, WITH THE NOSE APPROXIMATELY 40 DEGREE LEFT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12