Crash location | 40.850000°N, 75.450000°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
Nearest city | Blairstown, NJ
40.966764°N, 74.982951°W 25.7 miles away |
Tail number | N439AS |
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Accident date | 18 Mar 2006 |
Aircraft type | Schleicher ASW-19B |
Additional details: | None |
After about 1.5 hours of ridgeline flying, and during the outbound leg from the departure airport, the glider approached a valley. According to the pilot, "the ridge lift in this area dissipated rapidly due to a shift in wind direction." Due to the loss in lift, the pilot circled over a field and set up a downwind, base, and final approach for a landing. While on the "short final" leg of the approach, the pilot noticed an obstacle, elected to climb over it, and to land as quickly as possible on the opposite side. During the rollout, the pilot attempted to maneuver the glider between two trees; however, both wingtips impacted the trees, and the glider was substantially damaged.
A loss of lift, which resulted in a forced landing.