2009 SZD-48-3 Jantar Standard 3 glider accident near Sdier

Overview and identification details On 2 May 2009, a glider accident was investigated by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU). The aircraft involved was a PZL-Bielsko SZD-48-3, Jantar Standard 3, a single-seat, high-performance glider. The accident occurred near the locality of Sdier. One person was lightly injured, the glider was heavily damaged, and minor crop damage was reported. ## Aircraft and pilot information The SZD-48-3 Jantar Standard 3 was first approved for civil traffic in 1989 and was held in club ownership. At the time of the accident, its total operating time was 1,884 hours. The last annual inspection was carried out on 29 June 2008. The pilot was a 22-year-old glider pilot who had held a pilot licence since June 2003. He had approximately 757 hours of total flying experience and had completed eleven flights in the preceding 90 days. His experience on the accident type was 41 hours. ## Flight sequence On the day of the accident, the glider took off from Sonderlandeplatz Klix at approximately 12:59 local time by aerotow for a competition flight. The intended course was a 316 km task with three turnpoints. After about five hours of flight, the glider returned from the cross-country flight and approached the airfield from the direction of 100°. While crossing a coniferous forest northwest of Sdier, the glider made contact with trees about 60 m before the end of the wooded area. It then fell almost vertically into the dense trees and struck the ground with its cockpit. The aircraft was heavily damaged, and the pilot sustained lacerations and was kept in hospital for observation for 24 hours. ## Meteorological and operational conditions At the time of the accident, conditions were visual flight rules with light cloud. Ground wind was from variable directions at 1–2 kt. The onboard logger recorded wind from 356° at 7 kt during the approach to the airfield. Ground temperature was 24 °C. No meteorological abnormalities were reported. Radio contact was maintained between the flight leader and the glider pilot. ## Accident site and aircraft findings The accident site was located about 550 m west of the airfield in a wooded area. The impact occurred with a large longitudinal tilt of the glider due to the dense trees. The cockpit broke, and the tail unit was heavily damaged. No technical defects were found during the investigation of the aircraft. ## Flight data reconstruction The flight path was reconstructed from data from a satellite navigation device carried in the glider. The analysis showed that the pilot left the last thermal at approximately 700 m above ground level to fly the remaining 19 km to the airfield. About 13 km before the airfield, he had to fly a final turnpoint of the prescribed course. The flight speed was kept in the best glide range, and the flight to the turn was made with a tailwind of about 7 kt. The glider passed over the turnpoint at approximately 420 m above ground level. After the turn, the flight direction was to the east, and the wind of unchanged speed came from the left. The pilot had to cross several forest areas. The first forest area extended about 5.5 km in the direction of flight. After crossing that wooded section, the glider's altitude had reduced to about 150 m above ground level, and the distance to the airfield was about 5 km. After crossing two further smaller forest areas, the glider was at an altitude of less than 50 m above ground level and more than 2 km from the airfield. A final forest area 1.6 km long and about 20 m high, consisting of conifers, had to be crossed to reach the airfield. ## Assessment and conclusions The glider pilot started the competition flight under good visual weather conditions. He held a valid licence and had extensive total glider experience, with adequate experience on the accident type. He had flown several cross-country flights in April before the competition, but his competition cross-country experience was limited. The final approach from the last turnpoint to Sonderlandeplatz Klix was made without adequate altitude reserve. Although there were sufficient off-field landing opportunities between the forest areas, the low-altitude approach was continued. Logger data showed that the flight path after the last turn was largely straight, with only relatively small variation in ground speed, allowing the sink rate to be assumed to be approximately constant. The distance from the accident site to the last turn was about 12,450 m, and the altitude lost during that distance was about 420 m. This gave an average altitude loss of 1 m for every 29.6 m of flight distance. Based on these figures, the calculated altitude at the crossing point 2 km away was 49 m, and at the crossing point 5 km from the airfield it was 150 m. These calculations largely confirmed the GPS heights read from the logger data. The accident was attributed to the glider pilot's incorrect assessment of the approach situation and to tree contact because the altitude over the forest crossing was insufficient.