N17879

On May 15, 2022, at 1458 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer SGS-2-33A glider, N17879, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Blairstown, New Jersey. The student pilot was fatally injured. The glider was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 solo instructional flight.

According to the pilot’s flight instructor, he met the pilot at the airport to review his logbook and plan for two instructional flights. He reported the weather as “good with light winds and smooth conditions” based on flights he performed earlier that day. The two dual flights, which were performed in the traffic pattern for runway 25, were uneventful. The instructor noted that the pilot flew well on each flight, exercised good judgement, and flew well within safety limits. Following the completion of the second flight, the instructor issued a 90-day solo endorsement. It was the pilot’s second 90-day solo endorsement; he had received his first in November 2021. The pilot then flew two solo left traffic pattern flights. The first flight was uneventful.

During the 2nd solo traffic pattern flight, the flight instructor noticed that the turn from base to final “looked early, and slightly higher than normal.” The glider then entered a forward slip and descended closer to a “normal glide path” for the runway; however, it was “somewhat close to tall trees on the left.” During recovery from a second forward slip, the glider had a slight left bank angle, which caused it to track closer to the trees. The wings then leveled, and the glider impacted trees with its left wing, rotated, and pitched steeply nose-down before it impacted terrain.

Examination of the accident site revealed that the glider impacted a tree 254 ft left of the runway 25 centerline, and 390 ft short of the runway threshold (the intended landing area was in the grass to the left of runway 25). The tree was about 60-70 ft tall and displayed broken branches about 10 to 15 ft below its top. The tree was about 20 ft taller than those surrounding it in the tree line. A debris path of broken branches extended parallel to the tree line in a grass field. The path was 25 ft to the right of the trees, was about 165 ft long, and was oriented along a true heading of 234°. There were no glider components or ground scars found along the path, and the glider came to rest inverted. (See figure 1.)

Figure 1 - Scene Diagram

The glider was largely intact, and all major components were present at the accident site. Both wings displayed leading edge impact/crushing damage outboard of the wing struts. Tree bark fragments were present in the damaged area of the left wing. The fuselage was buckled and twisted toward the right about 2 ft aft of the wing’s trailing edge. The upper 10 inches of the vertical stabilizer and rudder were impact damaged. The forward sections of the cockpit and canopy were crushed and fragmented forward of the front seat. The front seat was relatively undamaged, and the 4-point harness was intact and remained attached to each of its mounting points.

Flight control continuity was established for all primary flight controls from the cockpit to the control surfaces. All cables and push/pull tubes remained connected, and the elevator, aileron, and rudder could all be moved from the cockpit controls, with binding. The speed brake control lever was in the retracted position and the speed brakes were not extended.

Toxicology testing of the pilot was performed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Forensic Sciences Laboratory. Ethanol, drugs of abuse, and carboxyhemoglobin were not detected. No medications were found that would have posed a hazard to flight safety.

Remnants of a bird’s foot were found at the base of the struck tree. No bird remains were visible on any of the glider’s components. Canopy fragments were sent to the Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification lab for DNA testing, along with photos of the foot. No viable avian DNA was detected on the canopy fragments. The foot was identified as chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus).