What happened
On August 24, 2003, a Schleicher K 8 B glider, registration PH-334, was performing a local flight from Eindhoven Airbase. During the landing phase, the pilot attempted to land on the outermost runway. At that moment, a tractor was crossing the runway diagonally to reach an aircraft parked on the inner runway. The right wingtip of the glider struck the shoulder of the tractor driver and subsequently hit the tractor's vertical exhaust pipe. The impact caused the glider to land in a slightly skewed position. The collision resulted in light injuries to the pilot, who experienced back pain a few days later, while the tractor driver sustained only a minor scratch. The aircraft suffered a hole in the wing nose and a tear in the right aileron.
The investigation
The investigation examined the runway procedures at Eindhoven Airbase, which utilizes four parallel strips: a winch runway, a tow-plane runway, and two landing runways. Standard procedure dictates using the outermost runway first, followed by the inner runway, and finally the tow or winch runways if necessary. When using the latter two, the pilot must notify the launch leader via radio.
On the day of the incident, the pilot observed that the two primary landing runways were occupied by aircraft, and activity was present on both the tow and winch runways. The pilot decided to land well ahead of an aircraft waiting on the outer runway. During the final approach, a tractor—one of two stationed near the outer runway—crossed the active runway path. The investigation established that the pilot could not take evasive action to avoid the vehicle.
Findings
- The pilot deviated from established landing procedures by not communicating via radio to coordinate the landing.
- The pilot chose to land on the outer runway despite the availability of the winch runway, which would have been a safer alternative.
- The tractor driver failed to sufficiently monitor other aircraft traffic within the airfield circuit while crossing the runway.