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NYC97LA145

1997-07-12 · BETHEL, Pennsylvania, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 8N1

N111XX has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BEECH 58, built 1983), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's improper flare. A factor in the accident was the pilot's fatigue.

Factual narrative

On July 12, 1997, about 1635 Eastern Daylight Time, a Vickers-Slingsby T65A glider, N111XX, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Grimes Airfield (8N1), Bethel, Pennsylvania. The certificated flight instructor received minor injuries. No flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Philadelphia Glider Council Airport (0PA0), Perkasie, Pennsylvania. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot reported that after about 4 hours of flight, he elected to land at Bethel due to a lack of updrafts. He put the gear down and "and began making preparations for landing. Upon reaching pattern altitude...I found myself in a nose down attitude, in what may have been a spin." He recovered from the maneuver, but lost significant altitude in the process. The pilot deployed the spoilers to land, and heard a warning alarm. Then the glider impacted the ground hard enough for the canopy to separate. After sitting for several minutes, the pilot exited the glider. In a statement, the pilot wrote that he felt "heat stress and physical fatigue...from working thermals as conditions weakened. Earlier termination of flight would have been prudent." The pilot reported that after about 4 hours of flight, he elected to land his glider at Bethel due to a lack of updrafts. He put the gear down and 'and began making preparations for landing. Upon reaching pattern altitude...I found myself in a nose down attitude, in what may have been a spin.' He recovered from the maneuver, but lost significant altitude in the process. He deployed the spoilers to land, and heard a warning alarm. Then the glider impacted the ground hard enough for the canopy to separate. After sitting for several minutes, the pilot exited the glider. The pilot later wrote that he felt 'heat stress and physical fatigue...from working thermals as conditions weakened. Earlier termination of flight would have been prudent.' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1997_NYC97LA145.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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