Probable cause

The glider pilot's failure to connect the elevator to the elevator control rod during the assembly process, resulting in a loss of control, and a collision with terrain during takeoff.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot reported that during the glider assembly process, he was distracted several times, and did not connect the elevator to the elevator control rod. He reported that during the takeoff, while being towed by an airplane, there was an "abnormal pitch up." The pilot wrote that he was "rolling left, pitching up, and losing sight of the tow plane" and that he released the tow line. The glider bounced off the ground, impacted a tree line, and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings.

Contributing factors

cause Owner/builder
cause Incorrect service/maintenance
Contributed to outcome
Owner/builder

Conditions

Weather: VMC, wind 150/03kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

Search flights between any two airports with live fares.

By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.

Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.

Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.

NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.

3 Jul 2015: CENTRAIR 101A A — THEODORE CLAUSING