Candlelight Farms Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

New Milford, Connecticut 06776
Saturday, May 12, 2001 15:15 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot departed in a glider from an airport with an elevation of 675 feet, and was aero-towed to 3,000 feet msl, over the airport, where he released. Initially he stayed north of the airport and climbed to 4,000 feet. He then headed to the northeast, while the winds were from the southwest. Over a period of several minutes the glider lost 1,900 feet while the pilot was searching for thermals. The pilot then elected to return to his departure airport. En route to the airport, he encountered a rain shower, and was sinking 500 to 600 fpm. He had insufficient altitude to reach the airport with the existing headwinds of 5 to 10 knots, and settled into trees about 1/4 of a miles from the approach end of the runway. The glider club field safety manager reported that he had cautioned the pilot to remain upwind of the airport prior to his departure. The pilot reported that he had focused his attention to finding lift and did not maintain his awareness of his proximity to the airport.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the student pilot's improper decision to fly northeast of the airport with winds from the southwest, and his subsequent diverted attention to the glider's proximity to the airport while he searched for thermals, which resulted in an off airport landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/12/2001
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City New Milford
Event State CONNECTICUT
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 06776
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 413430N
Event Location Longitude 0732736W
Event Location Airport Candlelight Farms
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 11N
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport 30
Airport Elevation 675
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Witness
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 75
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10564
NTSB Notification Source FAA New England Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date May 12 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2056
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2001 10:21AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Windosr Locks, CT

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N33907
NTSB Number NYC01LA121
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Schweizer
Aircraft Model SGS 1-26E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 627
Certified Max Gross Weight 700
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 1
Number of Engines 0
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 19 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5
Airframe Hours 2156
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Nutmeg Soaring Asociation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 190
Aircraft Owner City North Salem
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10560
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 11N
Departure City New Milford
Departure State CT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1415
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 11N
Destination City New Milford
Destination State CT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 4 2001 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 17
Runway Length 2900
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --