[hghflyn]

A Hang 2 Pilot crashed In the Dunlap Landing area (Dan's LZ) on the above date.
The following is a link to Jason's Utube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47hQevKvKbo

(Last 4 Min.)

Additional video from LZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gq4kBzIaCs&feature=related

Permission was obtained from Jason to post a link to these video's, so we may all learn from it.

What we do know is:
He is one Tough, Lucky guy
This was his 4th flight at Dunlap, his longest (36 Min.).
His prior 3 flights ended with good landings.
In those prior flights he followed the normal approach pattern. (See Ann's video).
http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?p=235881&highlight=#235881
He impacted the ground around 12:30
His original instructor was not with him at the time.
He was not in radio contact with a mentor or instructor.
He was flying a 170 Full Race Falcon with Mylar sail and litestream controlbar.
He was wearing a Charly" No Limit" Helmet with Visor up. He broke the keel with his head/ helmet-- minor damage to the helmet. It most likely saved his life
He incurred a laceration to his forehead above his eye, most likely from the broken keel.
His estimated speed at impact was around 30-35 MPH.
He hit on a downhill section near the west end of the field and left a trail in the grass with his wheels (WW White) approximately 10-12 feet long, traveling NW.
before the nose hit the ground and stopped the glider.
He never transitioned to the down tubes.
He was distracted by a paraglider being kited in the landing area.
He deviated from the path he used in his 3 prior approaches, due to this distraction.
His final decision making process was rushed as evidenced by the speed he entered ground effect and he quickly ran out of options to safely land the glider. His attention to his height above the ground was also quickly compromised by his speed and the steep dive initiated to get the glider into the fast disappearing L.Z.

Some thoughts to prevent a recurrence:

1. Obtain a thorough preflight introduction to specific hazards unique to the landing area you plan to land in. This is best obtained through a local instructor that is familiar with the area and his knowledge of your flying experience. Walk the area and discuss any past incidences or near misses that have occurred.

2. Work with the local paragliding community /pilots to stress the importance of Not Kiting their wing in an active landing area and quickly removing their paraglider after they land, from the active area where Novice hang glider pilots are landing.

3.Have a clear understanding of the max. speed that you should enter ground effect and the height needed to safely start your round out. Know how altitude, air density , thermals and terrain affect this.

4.Transition to the downtubes early enough and high enough to not have to disrupt your glide slope/path into ground effect. Novice pilots simply do not spend enough time controlling the glider from the down tubes. The sad part about this is the majority of all injuries occur during take off and landing, where the least amount of time has been spent to effectively control the glider, from the downtubes.

5. Your first, Initial (5-10) Novice flights from inland mountain sites, especially Dunlap should be limited to evening glass offs or very early (9AM) flights. It is understood that all pilots progress at different rates but when it comes to flying in mountain thermals, the conservative approach is best.

To sum this up, I'm sure there will be much more discussion and opinions related to this incident, Jason is obviously a vary tough guy, think Brauma bull rider, Be careful of your responses

He readily agreed to share this crash with all of us

Remember, we all need to learn from other people's mistakes because none of us are going to live long enough to make them all ourself

[dievhart]

Glad he was somewhat ok...having not flown dunlap yet :-(( I can't say much.....but I might have done a few passes over the LZ while still high and YELLED at the top of my lungs to get the FUK out of the LZ...and then still done my normal approach with a slight turn in the final to be sure to miss the guy who still didn't move (or not)....and yeah play with that ground effect and round out height in normal air....who knows it could have been the back side of a thermal though...after thought is always easy...
Diev

[Fawkes]

Oh that is an ugly whack! Glad that Jason is ok ...
Thanks again for the thorough site intro, a few weeks ago. It was my first "zig zag" approach ever (always flying box patterns) and honesty makes me tell that I actually sank out a little faster on final than I expected

Most of the time I fly on busy sites shared by PG and HG, so a mix of gliders comming in on different speeds (in which zigzag is more risk for hitting each other). I am wondering why you guys recommend the zigzag approach for Dunlap. I suspect because there is not enough room (the pond, cables and trees around the LZ ) or is it just the habit ? (When we arrived at the LZ that wednesday, before you gave the site intro, I was trying to draw the pattern and was thinking of a left turning circuit with a short base leg). Just out of curiosity, not that it would have avoided the whack.

Hope Jason gets back in the air soon. Thanks for sharing the video.
Ann

[Mavi Gogun]

Wasn'ttherenotthepilotbut- the paraglider could just as easily have been a cow, a tree, a stripper. It wouldn't account for the same decisions made by an experienced pilot; in the mind of a fresh pilot, though, odd things become outsized, and panic disrupts the sound judgments the same pilot would have made if composed.

An observation: wheels don't work well with low angles of attack. Even big plastic donut wheels dig in and stop immediately when forced- let alone the little white Wills wheels, which aren't a good bet for extended rolling.

If there is any foam compression on the helmet (or, of course, damage to the shell), discard and replace it.

[hghflyn]

[Fawkes]

Thanks for the explanation. Makes perfect sense.
I think I just missed the feet-to-meters conversion in my approach

[Rick M]

Wow. That was an abrupt stop. Glad the pilot is mostly fine.

I'll never understand why some PG pilots have the need to kite their wings in the middle of a field like that. Move off to the side.

Watching this video it seems there are two issues to be discussed.

1) This pilot became distracted, needlessly, by a PG in the middle of a large field.

It's too bad this pilot let this minor distraction mess up his whole approach. It seems the wind direction was also a bit unexpected. Combined, the two variables resulted in a new pilot getting distracted, being forced to deviate from the ideal plan, and making a mistake. With a bit more experience, something like a lone PG in the middle of a large field will become a non-issue. There was plenty of room in the LZ despite the PG.

Last fall I was heading for a large LZ with a lone PG kiting dead center in the field. For a moment I was annoyed as I planned my approach but after a second I realized it was a non-issue. All I had to do was move my approach to the side 30 feet. I picked my new spot and focused on my landing as usual. I mostly ignored the PG other than the occasional glance to be sure he hadn't moved much. On final I glided right past him. It was a non-event because I had plenty of room.

I guess the thing to get from this is don't get so locked in on a single option. Be prepared to make slight deviations from the original plan.

2) Why did the pilot fly into the ground?

This is the 2nd landing we've seen posted here in the last few days where a newer pilot failed to round out and simply flew into the ground.

What would cause such a thing?
Not looking up at the horizon?
Mind too distracted by the unexpected approach?
Unexpected wind gradient? (this doesn't seem likely in this case)

[JackieB]

That was tough to watch. So glad you are OK. You'll get lots of great advice that will be helpful in the future.

[CAL]

Thanks for posting this learning experience, Thanks to Deeprecon for setting a good mood in his to Post or not to post thread,

i can't add to what has already been said, other then, everyone made great points in such a way that the pilot would feel confident returning to the sky

[AIRTHUG]

Glad the pilot is ok!!!

It's very interesting (and this is a very good example) to see how a distraction or obstacle in a landing zone can play a factor in an accident like this. Doing the 'standard' approach the PG pilot could have ducked (if he saw the HG coming)... and the HG could have flat out landed on the PG wing if necessary (I've done it myself once)...

BUT- I also don't blame the pilot for not making an approach toward the paraglider pilot. All of the above assumes the pilot stays put, is paying attention, and the wing stays on the ground. If the PG pilot is inconsiderate enough to kite in the landing zone, who's to say he wouldn't pull up the wing once the hang glider is on final (not maliciously, just not seeing the HG coming in).

While the accident still goes down as pilot error (pilot flew into the ground)... there is most certainly an element of unecessary distraction that clearly affected the pilot's decision making and probably execution of a safe landing too.

For what it's worth, I sent the following to our local club email list:

[hgflyer]

Distractions can cause tension or anxiety. Making any pilot force, over compensate and create tunnel vision. Newer pilots are more vulnerable to these symptoms. Since flying new sites and their nuances are unfamiliar.

Abandoning prior flight plan or going away from what is familiar. And choosing an unfamiliar approach because of distractions. Easily can take any pilot out of their comfort zone. When multiple factors add up to cause anxiety or tension. This can make any pilot force the glider, or overcompensate with technique. Instead of flying and feeling the wing.

As far as proper approach, body positions, hand transitions, and most importantly pitch control. We can dissect each of these elements independently. To achieve the most logical, effective and efficient applications, so as to make the flying funner and safer. And limit the amount of unnecessary or miniscule distractions. Through good technique and habits.

I'm also happy the pilot is OK!

p.s.Good job on the pilot on final. Very nice pitch control and handling high speed on approach, with no pitch or roll oscillation. We can talk about hand transitions...when and how a little later.

[Alan]

[Bobfly]

Wow! That was a hard hit! I'm glad the pilot is unhurt. It sucks that his wing is fuked up.

[noman3]

im glad this guy is ok! I think the weeds got him but his round out was lacking big time.In that lz he put himself into the wind but down hill.I have fuked up and done this to myself to,its a real shitty deal.I hope he dont quit.

[Richard Saffold]

This very lucky pilot needs to ditch the goodies and go back to the training hill for a while.

I wonder a bit about the pilots depth perception as well even though lack of experience was more than enough to cause this. I have seen pilots who didn't have it and flew into the ground one time too many. Not everyone is born with the goods to have a long flying career.

Even though the pg was a "non issue" to someone with enough experience to fly there, No pg should be kited when gliders are landing and I would have let this dude know he would be ducking hard if he didn't drop it.

I trust very few pg pilots and you all know what I'm thinking about the rest of them..

Rich-

[knumbknuts]

This is why I go upright on downwind.

This is the third video I've seen of someone plowing into the deck prone.

experienced pilot: http://vimeo.com/1378063

experienced pilot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLb7QZ5LM6I&t=06m05s
(and he was semi-upright)

[AIRTHUG]

That first one was a real doozy... looked like the nose plate scraped the helmet right off his head?!

[Willmrx]

[gasdive]

I don't like the way new pilots are taught to land on wheels. When you're distracted, stressed or rushed there's a tendency to go back to what you learnt first.

Wheels may save you if you stuff up, but they may not as well. Foot landings are the primary way of getting a HG on the ground safely, not an advanced skill for H2-3 pilots.

=:)

[noman3]