Accident Details
On 19 October 2019, a glider accident occurred at Bezmiechowa, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland. The aircraft involved was a SZD-9 bis 1E Bocian glider, registration SP-3711, owned and operated by the Academic Gliding Centre (Akademicki Ośrodek Szybowcowy) of Rzeszow University of Technology. The pilot, a 24-year-old female holding a glider pilot license (SPL) with appropriate ratings, was conducting a solo gliding flight after completing training with an instructor. The accident happened at approximately 16:29 local time on a public road in Bezmiechowa Górna.
Flight Sequence
The glider was launched using the gravity-assisted method at 16:24 for a soaring flight as part of task SPL/V-2. During two S-turns near the slope, the pilot informed the supervising instructor by radio that she was aborting the soaring flight and intended to land on the lower runway of the airfield. While flying over an area of increased sink, the pilot altered her flight path due to concern that she lacked sufficient altitude to clear the forest west of the airfield. She turned southeast, but drift from a southwesterly wind continued to push the glider over the airfield area. The instructor advised a heading change, but the pilot's response was ineffective, and the glider continued losing altitude east of the airfield. The instructor then commanded "turn right and land," which the pilot initiated but then abandoned, instead turning southwest and deciding to land in that direction. After touching down at increased speed off the runway on a flat part of the airfield, the pilot, in an attempt to avoid a power line pole, banked left and pulled back on the control stick. The glider lifted off, and during a left turn, the right wing severed a telephone line. The glider then touched down sideways on a road adjacent to the airfield and came to rest in a ditch, having turned approximately 130 degrees left from the landing direction.
Investigation Findings
The pilot had valid licenses, medical certificate, and recent training. The glider was airworthy and had the required documentation and insurance. Weather conditions were suitable for the planned flight. The pilot reported that her decision to leave the slope and fly east of the airfield was due to increased sink and fear of not clearing the forest west of the airfield. The airfield's Operating Instructions specify a procedure for departing the slope: in case of failure to connect with lift, the pilot should move towards the valley and execute a 180-degree turn to a landing with a flat approach, landing with the wind downhill. The pilot's landing maneuver was not in accordance with this procedure.
Cause and Contributing Factors
The probable cause of the accident was pilot error, consisting of performing the landing approach maneuver after an unsuccessful attempt at a soaring flight not in accordance with the airfield's Operating Instructions. A contributing factor was a late departure from the slope, resulting in insufficient altitude to safely execute a landing maneuver as prescribed by the Operating Instructions.
No safety recommendations were issued by the investigating body, although the user's safety team was to consider a minimum flight time requirement for pilots conducting solo soaring flights at the airfield, and the training organization planned to amend the airfield's Operating Instructions to provide more detailed procedures for failing to connect with slope lift.