Accident Report 10/24/2018

Post by **Joe Schad** » Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:24 am

Below is a summary of my accident in October of my landing in Strasburg. I was flying my Falcon 170.
Accident Report Woodstock, October 24, 2018

It was a moderately strong day at Woodstock. I believe I was the third person to launch. All six or seven of us had good flights (Gary Smith, John Middleton, Walt Melo and 3 others.) My flight finished with a mishap.

I had a good launch and no problem staying up. I flew north to Strasburg with the intent to land at the high school soccer field. I arrived about 3 pm and found the northwest winds were stronger as I got lower. I flew just short of the high school soccer field where I normally land, but students were practicing for band. I decided to land in the Strasburg Town park, near the swimming pool, where I have landed many times.

As I flew downwind I noticed that my ground speed was high. My error in judgment was not leading the turn to base early. As a result, when I rolled out on final I found that I was not moving forward with a low tree line directly in front of me. I made a quick right turn followed by an immediate turn back into the wind low to the ground. I was struggling to get the glider turned so I tried to roll the glider in on the ground. My ground speed was fortunately not fast. I got the left wheel on the ground but it caught a clump of grass and I stopped abruptly and the glider turned 90 degrees as I stopped. Nothing was bent or broken on the glider. Unfortunately my left elbow fractured as a result of the landing. I had a death grip on the left down tube.

Lessons learned: Remember that high downwind speed is followed by low final approach ground speed. Turn early and before trees to prevent trapping yourself behind a tree line. Second: Consider not flying into small fields with high wind conditions. Makes life much easier. Third: Don’t be complacent, as I was, just because I had landed in the park many times. I could have stayed around launch and landed in a nice big open field where everyone else landed that day.

Thanks Gary Smith for packing up my glider and taking it to my house. Gary also helped Zelda retrieve my car.

Thanks also Zelda and Nick, a friend that Zelda recognized in the park, for rescuing me after I landed. They both helped me get out of my harness. Strasburg Rescue offered further assistance and transportation.

After 2 surgeries with screws and plates in place I continue range of motion and strength training PT. Goal: Airborne in April.

Joe