Cites Inadequate Experience, Pilot Error

The NTSB has released its final report on an April 6, 2005 glider accident in Mokuleia, HI. The report cites pilot error, lack of flight experience, inadequate flight training and unfavorable winds as the probable causes.

The report states 22-year-old pilot Tyler Nelson, who perished in the accident, "failed to maintain adequate airspeed during a maneuver which caused his aircraft to stall, then pitch up and down, and spin first in one direction, then the other, before crashing. The oscillations and spins after a stall are predictable and recovery is possible in half a turn or less," Honolulu's Star Bulletin reports.

Coming into question is Nelson's experience and flight training history in such recovery maneuvers. He had 48.4 total hours, with 31.2 of those hours as PIC. He held a commercial license he received less than three months after he'd begun his flight training.

The Soaring Society of America and the Soaring Safety Foundation said the process of obtaining a commercial glider pilot license can take anywhere from six months to a year or more. The FAA requires a minimum of 25 hours total time and 100 flights as PIC to qualify.

John Streich had purchased the flight as a birthday present to his daughter, Ashley.  They both walked away with minor injuries.

The glider impacted terrain on a ridge above Dillingham Airfield, which local glider pilots call the "toilet bowl" due to unpredictable winds. An airborne glider pilot who witnessed the crash told investigators "the winds were shifting and gusting and did not produce the usual updraft along the ridgeline."

The glider, a Schweizer SGS 2-32, was owned and operated by Sailplane Ride Adventures, Inc. which conducts business as Soar Hawaii Sailplanes.

FMI: Read The Complete NTSB Probable Cause Report