History of Flight
On April 27, 2013, about 1130 eastern daylight time, a Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider, registration N9857E, operated by the Long Island Soaring Association (LISA), was substantially damaged when it impacted a road after a loss of control in flight during approach to Brookhaven Airport (HWV), Shirley, New York. The private pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed HWV about 1115.
The glider was based at HWV. According to a LISA flight instructor, just prior to the accident flight, he completed an uneventful checkout flight with the accident pilot in the accident glider. The checkout flight was required by LISA club rules for any pilot who had not flown that make and model within the previous six months. The flight instructor stated the checkout flight went well, and the accident pilot performed maneuvers such as stalls and steep turns. The instructor was particularly impressed with the accident pilot's landing, as the accident glider was the most difficult to land of LISA's gliders, requiring no flare and being flown onto the runway. The instructor noted no deficiencies during the checkout.
The tow airplane pilot, taxiing at the time of the accident, reported that the glider seemed to fly a normal traffic pattern and approach to runway 33. On final approach, about 250 feet above ground level with dive brakes half-deployed (which was normal), the left wing suddenly dropped, and the glider descended to the ground. The flight instructor reported that everything looked normal until one wing suddenly dropped, consistent with a stall. A third witness, also a pilot, reported that a white glider with orange trim was low, at or below 500 feet agl, which he considered low if it intended to fly a right downwind, base, and final leg to runway 33. The glider then disappeared behind trees, and the witness did not see the impact.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 74, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and glider. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on May 2, 2011. Review of his logbooks revealed a total flight experience of approximately 1,067 hours, consisting of 961 hours in airplanes and 106 hours in gliders. He flew about 13 hours and 8 hours during the 90-day and 30-day periods preceding the accident, all in airplanes. His most recent glider flight prior to the accident was on September 22, 2012. He had flown the accident glider for about 10 years, accumulating approximately 43 flights totaling about 14 hours. His most recent flight in the accident glider before the accident was on July 3, 2011.
He received his first FAA medical certificate in 2001 and reported a history of treated hypertension with supplied information from his primary physician. He continued to report controlled hypertension throughout his medical certificate applications, including the most recent one.
Aircraft Information
The two-seat tandem, all-metal glider, serial number 24, was manufactured in 1965. Its most recent annual inspection was completed on January 3, 2013, at which time the glider had accumulated 3,647.3 total flight hours.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The glider impacted an access road to an abandoned New York State Department of Transportation lot, about 1/2 mile prior to the runway 33 threshold at HWV. It came to rest upright, on a magnetic heading of 120 degrees, with the empennage suspended in trees and the cockpit resting on the road. No debris path or damage to nearby trees was observed. The forward cockpit area was crushed; however, the instrument panel remained intact. The glider was not equipped with a transponder or GPS receiver. A handheld radio was recovered from the cockpit, and no distress calls were heard on the common traffic advisory frequency. The pilot's seatbelt and shoulder harness remained intact and were removed by rescue personnel.
The outboard one-third of both wings was partially separated. The wing dive brakes were found extended, but their preimpact position could not be determined. The empennage remained intact and undamaged. Flight control continuity was confirmed from the elevator, elevator trim tab, and rudder, via their respective cables, to the cockpit controls. The elevator trim tab was found deflected in the full up position, consistent with impact damage. Continuity was also confirmed from the left wing aileron, right wing aileron, and right wing dive brake, via their respective push-pull tubes, to the cockpit controls. The left wing dive brake push-pull tubes had separated near the wing root, consistent with impact damage.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office on April 28, 2013, noted the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries. The autopsy identified a heart weight of 385 grams (normal for a man of his height), insignificant coronary artery stenosis (20-30%), and very mild kidney damage from hypertension.
Toxicological testing by the FAA Bioaeronautical Science Research Laboratory detected diphenhydramine in blood (0.056 µg/ml) and urine, and losartan in urine and blood. Testing by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner also found diphenhydramine (0.11 µg/ml) in the blood. Diphenhydramine is a sedating antihistamine and sleep aid marketed as Benadryl and Unisom, with a therapeutic range of 0.025 to 0.112 µg/ml. The FDA warns that diphenhydramine may impair mental and/or physical ability required for hazardous tasks. It causes marked sedation and is a CNS depressant. A driving simulator study found that a single dose impaired driving ability more than a blood alcohol concentration of 0.100%.