NTSB Identification: GAA16CA261
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, May 25, 2016 in Blairstown, NJ
Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/27/2016
Aircraft: ROLLADEN-SCHNEIDER OHG LS3, registration: N63761
Injuries: 1 Serious.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
According to the pilot, prior to a cross-country glider flight, his preflight weather assessment led him to believe that he would find thermal lift near the ridge enabling him to climb. He reported that when he arrived at the ridge he did not find any thermal lift activity and his circumstance seemed "urgent and imperative" to find an off airport landing area. He recalled that very high trees outlined the 300 meter field where he elected to land. He reported that he made two descending, spiraling patterns over his selected landing site. He recalled that he made a final turn into the field, however the glider's outboard left wing struck several trees and spun the glider counter-clockwise and it impacted the ground. The glider sustained substantial damage to the empennage and the left wing and canopy.
The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies with any portion of the glider during the flight that would have prevented normal flight operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees on final.
A plane helps lead authorities in Warren County on May 25, 2016, to a glider crash in Hardwick Township. The injured pilot was rushed to treatment via Atlantic Air Medical.
Authorities in Warren County respond May 25, 2016, to a glider crash in Hardwick Township, and rush the injured pilot to treatment via Atlantic Air Medical.
A glider pilot was airlifted for treatment after suffering a broken back in a crash Wednesday afternoon in Warren County, according to New Jersey State Police.
It occurred about 1:30 p.m. in woods along a field off Shannon Road in Hardwick Township, in the area of Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco.
The pilot, 47-year-old New York City resident Pierre Grellet-Aumont, was attempting an emergency landing when the wing of the unpowered aircraft clipped a tree and went down, police Sgt. First Class Gregory Williams said.
Another pilot witnessed the crash and observed the wreckage on the ground. State police sent a helicopter to help direct rescuers to the crash, but canceled the craft after a tow plane from a nearby glider port in Blairstown Township got responders to the injured pilot.
Grellet-Aumont was taken by North Warren EMS to an Atlantic Air Medical helicopter for transport to Morristown Medical Center, according to Williams.
The Federal Aviation Administration was contacted, and the National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to the scene to begin a probe into the incident, Williams said.
National Park Service Police, New Jersey State Park Police and the Blairstown Hose Co. also assisted at the scene.
Williams said the glider was a 1979 Rolladen-Schneider OHG LS3-A.
Wednesday's crash follows a small-plane crash last week in Sussex County, also in northern New Jersey, after which the pilot was pronounced dead.
Original article can be found here: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com
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