Berts Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Farmington, North Carolina 27028
Sunday, May 7, 2000 17:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on final approach to land, the flight instructor realized that they were too low for a safe landing on the runway. The flight instructor took the flight controls from the dual student and attempted a landing in a field short of the runway surface. The flight instructor stated that the glider touched down on the main landing gear and rolled up-slope in the emergency landing area. The glider continued up-slope, rolled over the top of the knoll, became airborne momentarily, and touched down a second time. During the second touchdown the nose skid dug into the ground and the left wing collided with the ground. No mechanical problems with the glider were reported by the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudgment of traffic pattern altitude that resulted in an off-field landing and the subsequent collision with the ground. A factor was rough terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/7/2000
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City FARMINGTON
Event State NORTH CAROLINA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 27028
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BERTS FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID NONE
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 180
Airport Elevation 1730
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1754 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID INT
Elevation of weather observation facility 960
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 2500
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 105
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 7 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2127
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 9:44AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2728Z
NTSB Number ATL00LA054
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Schweizer
Aircraft Model SGU2-22E
Aircraft Series Identifier SGU2-22E
Aircraft Serial Number 186
Certified Max Gross Weight 940
Aircraft Category Glider
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PIEDMONT SOARING SOCIETY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2712 MERY OAKS TRAIL
Aircraft Owner City WINSTON SALEM
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 27103
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ROBIN L. SCHUTTE
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7625 FORDING BRIDGE
Operator City KERNERSVILLE
Operator State NC
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 27284
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 2800
Runway Width 300
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --