NTSB Factual Report

On June 25, 2009, at 1240 mountain daylight time, N800JM, a Rolladen-Schneider OHG LS3-A glider, landed in a field shortly after takeoff from West Desert Airpark, Cedar Valley, Utah. The pilot owned the glider and was operating it under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The glider sustained minor damage and the private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot submitted a written statement. He reported that he was departing from runway 17 through an aero-tow behind a Cessna 182. The wind was from 080 degrees at less than 10 knots. Normal aero-tow requirements state that flaps should be kept at 0 degrees until aileron effectiveness. The flaps should then be set to 10 degrees. The pilot’s left hand was on the flap handle and the flaps were set to 0 degrees at the beginning of the takeoff. The pilot stated that the left wing was set too low and then dropped during the takeoff. As the left wing was scraping along, the nose of the glider was yawing to the left. He applied full right rudder, attempting to stay straight down the runway. The pilot then took his left hand off the flap handle and placed it on the tow release handle, intending to abort the takeoff. Before pulling the release, he made an attempt to level the wings with an abrupt roll motion with the stick. The glider banked to the right and then lifted off, drifting high and to the right of the runway and the tow-plane. As the tow-plane climbed, the pilot gained control of the glider and gradually positioned it behind the tow-plane using a sideslip and forward stick pressure. As he maneuvered the glider into position, the pilot moved his hand back to extend the flaps 10 degrees. However, his left hand was still holding the tow release handle and not the flap handle, and he unintentionally pulled the tow release at 75 to 100 feet above ground level.

The pilot further reported that he followed his emergency plan and lowered the nose slightly while turning in order to land in a field. The pilot felt that he focused too much on his aim point and not on the horizon, and that he had opened the spoilers too much and did not extend the flaps. He misjudged his flair and the glider impacted the ground in a nose down position and the pilot sustained a spinal injury.

The pilot felt that the accident was a result of a chain of mistakes due to the following:

- He should have aborted the takeoff while still on the ground.

- He was trained not to put his hand on the release handle until fully intending to release.

- He was trained not to fixate on the aim point but to look down the runway at the horizon when nearing the ground so as to time the flare properly. According to the pilot, the lack of time to stabilize the approach as well as not having a runway to line up with likely aggravated this tendency.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot inadvertently applied the tow release handle.