N2728Z

On May 7, 2000, at 1745 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer SGU2-22E glider, N2728Z, collided with the ground 100 yards short of runway 18 during an attempted landing to Berts Field in Farmington, North Carolina. The instructional flight was operated by the flight instructor under the provisions of Title14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The glider sustained substantial damage, and the flight instructor and the dual student were not injured. The local flight departed Farmington, North Carolina, at 1530.

According to the flight instructor, he and the dual student were returning to Farmington for a full-stop landing when the accident occurred. While on final approach to land, the flight instructor realized that they were too low for a safe landing on the runway. The flight instructor took the flight controls from the dual student and attempted a landing in a field short of the runway surface. The flight instructor stated that the glider touched down on the main landing gear and rolled up-slope in the emergency landing area. The glider continued up-slope, rolled over the top of the knoll, became airborne momentarily, and touched down a second time. During the second touchdown, the nose skid dug into the ground and the left wing collided with the ground.

No mechanical problems with the glider were reported by the pilot.