Did someone get hurt at Hyner?

[Richard Hays]

Some students of mine from Pittsburg heard that there may have been an incident at Hyner over the weekend? Any news of that from those who were there?

Rich

[DanTuck]

Hi Richard,
Steve Ziegler did get hurt up there but it wsa before I got there so I didn't see it. He flew with us at the Bill's Hill Clean up day, real nice guy, flies a white/black/yellow Northwing Horizon. I sent him an email yesterday but haven't heard back yet. I'll let you know how he's doing if/when I hear back from him. Keep him in your thoughts - I heard the injuries were significant.

[Batman]

From Brian's earlier post under the Hyner thread, it sounds like Steve pounded in after flying too slowly. LE & John Middleton were on the scene immediately after it happened so maybe they can provide an update.

[brianvh]

I mentioned it in my Hyner post, but can give a few more details since I saw the whole thing.

Steve Zigler is a H2 without a lot of mountain experience and I don't know how much aerotow experience, though he has some. He was flying a double surface glider that is unfamiliar to me so I didn't remember what it was even though I helped in breaking it down.

He was making the approach towards the north, but started final too high for where he turned on final over Shawn's trailer. From this point I was watching him from behind and thought he had bad PIO's, but others who saw his bar position from the side said he was flying too slow and had sticky wings syndrome, which looks similar but slower. He met the ground and more or less cartwheeled on his left wing about 100 feet from the trees at the end of the field.

This was only his second flight at Hyner: the first was at memorial day and I heard he did real PIO's on that approach. Perhaps he was scared of a repeat so flew too slow, then mistook the sticky wings for PIOs and kept slowing down. I've done that but we won't know if that was what was in his head until he gives a full account. He briefly posted on the Hyner list serve and is in good spirits despite one fractured vertebra and 5 or so 'questionable' vertabra.

He wants to get back into flying when healed and is expected to have a full recovery. I'd suggest he go with a glider that can't PIO until he gets his confidence back. The only apparent damage to his glider was both attack tubes bent longitudinally (force from behind instead of the side). I seem to remember his saying he wished he was wearing a full face helmet because he had some facial injuries, but I guess those weren't too serious since they were never mentioned in the report TR gave from the hospital.

[silverwings]

As Brian stated he turned into final too soon but mostly was flying too slow on his whole landing approach. It appeared to me he was doing little S turns to loose altitude as he was going down the field and toward the end got turned to the left toward the trees. I heard a crash and though maybe he had hit the trees but couldn't see from my position on the field. Even though he started his final a bit high, if he had pulled in significantly and flew straight down the field he could have landed on his wheels or feet before running out of room. He crashed at least 30 - 40 yards before the end of the field. I am not sure whether the S turns were intentional or not. He was wearing a full face helmet (a lighter version) but not the normal style we use, wearing a knee hanger harness and was flying a North Wing Horizon (Pulse copy) I believe and got most of his foot launch training at LookOut where he bought the glider. Last I heard the prognosis for recovery was good. If he decides to continue flying it would be in his best interest to get a Falcon or similar glider and get a lot more experience before going back to his current glider.

[RedBaron]

I respect all you guys, especially John who consistently graduates competent H2's with impressive foot launch skills. But before we start judging Steve's competence on his glider I would like to encourage everybody to take a step back and give Steve a break. There has been no accident report posted on this listserve and thus no invitation to this type of discussion has been made as far as I'm concerned. I wish Steve a speedy recovery and hope he's not taking this too hard on himself. My first flight on the Eagle at Jack's was almost violently ended by a power line pole and I have yet to meet a fresh H2 who pulls off a good approach (and how, these things cannot be practiced at the training hill). I'm sure Steve will do a great job at analyzing the mistakes he made on that flight, and how to fix them.

[brianvh]

"There has been no accident report posted on this listserve and thus no invitation to this type of discussion has been made as far as I'm concerned."

That's a good point, Janni. I don't think John and I meant our remarks to be at all critical (we've all had our crashes), but as you said there was no invitation for public evaluation. Should just stick to the observed facts until the one guy who knows best starts the analysis cycle. It may be a few days after surgery before Steve feels like writing anything longer than a paragraph.

[LE Herrick]

Great day at Pulpet today.

And a for a great ending to a great day, I got an e-mail from Steve. He is recovering and greatful for all the help. He said he will post a full report when we gets out of the hospital.

thank you to everyone.

LE

[Zig]

Steve here.

I'm the guy. Thanks to all of you that helped me down there. Knowing I was surrounded by competent people on the ground really helped me to stay calm, which is what I needed to do at that point. I wish I could say the same about some of the hospital personnel I have dealt with.

As far as an accident report, I will get that done as soon as I am home for a few days. Brian's descriptions were fairly close. If I am ever allowed to fly again (wife), it will be a Falcon for a long time. But I chose to launch that day and that was my responsibility, period. As far as that goes, I feel badly that I put so many people through so much. As far as me, I would have rather gone through this than never have done it. I sure hope I can find a way to aviate again in the future. It is not on the radar for a few years though. I do however, have a nice rack on my car, so I am sure I'll be able to get behind the wheel for some of you at some point.

As far as the injury: I finally got my surgery yesterday...I say finally because I had at least 3 separate days of starvation because they though they might put me into surgery. They fused t3 to t8 vertebrae. Nerve damage looks to be minimal. My verts were damaged above and below, but just very healable. t5 basically exploded. t6 was pretty bad too. I thought I might get up and walk tonight, but the nurse doesn't have an order. So that should happen tomorrow morning. I am holding out hope I will be released on Saturday. But until I get walking and such with the physical therapists, I won't know whether or not I will be going home or to in patient rehab. Time will tell. Probably the best thing I have going for me is that I have a deal of love, support, and compassion from my friends and family. And I have gotten a great deal of all of that from the HG community; thank you all for that!
Steve
ps. sorry if this post was disjointed...im highly drugged at the moment.

[DanTuck]

Steve,
It's so good to see you post. I'm so glad that you got your surgery out of the way and it sounds like it was successful. Olivia and I are thinking of you and wishing the best and a speedy recovery. Keep in touch, man.
BTW, your friends on the Org send their best.
Dan

[bigkreek]

Heal well and quickly, Steve! It' s great to hear from you.

Rusty

[RedBaron]

Dear Steve,

I feel saddened by your post. What a shame you had such bad luck. I hope you will be motivated to make one of our Fly-Ins so I get a chance to meet you. We can still get drunk and smoke crack, you know? I'm glad you are in the good hands of your loving family and I'm sure their care will make you as good as new in no time.

My warmest regards

[brianvh]

Hey Steve;

in case you haven't placed me yet, I'm the guy who caught up with you at the McDonald's in Sunbury when your daughter saw me driving by. As I said elsewhere, I've both suffered from PIO's with the slow-flying after-affects and had a HG related back injury, though not in the same incident. So I can feel where you've been and where you're going. It will be an interesting journey. Hopefully the kids will enjoy having daddy home, especially a daddy they can outrun! Oh, and a handful of percocet will make you see the most interesting colors....

Don't mind the pain dude, it's a noble thing.

[Zig]

Yeah, I remember you Brian...and what you did in the MickyD parking lot was basically a non-glider version of my accident. It was good to meet you and I hope to see you again.

For what it is worth, I am getting out of the hospital today. Really looking forward to getting back home.
Take care,
Steve

[brianvh]

He-he-he. I forgot about that. That kinda stuff is just my normal routine, wonder how I survive hang gliding.

For those waiting with bated breath to hear just what exactly I did, I tried to...oops, phone ringing. Gotta go.

[Zig]

Hey folks,
Just wanted to give you all an update. I saw my surgeon yesterday, and he said my progress is very good. In 6 weeks I will probably be able to go without my brace and even start some limited driving again. I will also start physical therapy at that time. I have been pushing myself, but trying not to overdo it. My employer has been very cool and had let me work from my house, and I started a week and a half ago. It isn't exactly easy, but I am grateful for it. It keeps my mind sharper, and it makes me feel productive. I have started taking alks around the blok to start building some stamina again. I still have lots of pain, but it is being controlled with the painkillers. I'll be anxious to get off of them as soon as the pain dies down. All in all, I am very glad to only be injured the way I was, as I was millimeters from a couple far worse outcomes. I want to thank everyone for the support I have been given, between my family, friends, neighbors, and all of you HG pilots, I have had so much help that I have no doubt that it has helped speed my recovery. I submitted an accident report (very longwinded, sorry LE) for USHGPA, and I will copy over at hanggliding.org if you want to see it. Thanks again for all of the help, kindness, and support!
Steve Ziegler