Incident Overview
A student pilot flying a glider experienced an off-airport landing after determining he could not reach the intended runway. The pilot had released from the tow plane and located an area of lift, which allowed him to climb to an altitude of 2,100 feet. While returning to the airport, he assessed his glide path and concluded that he would be too low to make the runway.
Sequence of Events
The pilot decided to land on a highway. During the landing attempt, the glider's left wing struck a building. Subsequently, the right wing encountered telephone lines. The impact with the lines caused the glider to come to rest with its right wing suspended by the telephone lines.
Pilot Background
According to the report, all of the student pilot's flight time in gliders was accumulated on the day of the accident. The pilot also had 20 hours of flight time in single-engine aircraft.