On Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 10:11:35 PM UTC-5, Tango Eight wrote:
On Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 7:59:06 PM UTC-5, Nick Kennedy wrote:
My take after reading the NTSB report is the glider pilot looked away to adjust a GoPro, Got High on the tow early and drove the tug into the ground.
Does this sound correct?
God Damn it. These are easily preventable accidents.
Killing Tow Pilots like this is very bad form.
When I was towing I'd look pilots in the eye that I didn't know and say " If you get high on me your getting rope, immediately." Got it?

I got angry reading that report. I channeled that into a calm, cool, pointed email note to my club entitled "Don't Kill Your Tow Pilot". The ensuing discussion is satisfying.

I know this much for certain: I never want to be the subject of, or accessory to, or close friends of anyone involved an accident like that.

What I've discovered as an instructor... my pre-solo students have no issues keeping focused on tow, and the real pros don't have any issues, either.. "Pro" in this case means (roughly speaking) 1000 hrs in gliders. The guys in the middle though... virtually all will fiddle with something below 500' once in three flights. Radio. Vents. Vario. Camera. Water bottle. Changing glasses. Drives me nuts. One glider instructor (not a tow pilot) tried to argue with me that it was okay to fiddle with the panel!! God damnit, you have ONE job: fly in safe formation with your tug. This accident goes in the same file with that rating-collector instructor at Sugarbush that killed his commercial ride passenger and two aircraft trying to close an unsecured canopy on tow. One wonders why we grant CFI-Gs to guys with 100 hrs in gliders, but that's another rant.

It's probable that anyone that does anything other than fly the tow on a Spring check ride or BFR with me going forward will earn themselves an extra tow in addition to a pointed critique. Club President already refers to me as the "big bad wolf", why disappoint?

Take off/departure accidents seem very preventable. I've made it my job to work on such prevention at my club and it has, at times, caused me to be unpopular. Checklist discipline & cockpit discipline at both ends of the rope save lives. Do it. Let's see if we can get through 2019 with fewer than our running average of 6 USA gliding related fatalities.

Evan Ludeman / T8

This is IMHO good info and should be expanded on during the training process for new glider pilots. I have been flying gliders for a long time, have seen things that would make you shake your head and wonder how in the hell did that happen. There may be more to this accident than we realize, the medical issues surely come into play. More importantly the camera deal was very disturbing, I had heard that there were 7 seconds during the flight that the camera was not operational and then came back on. I hope this was not the case but even one second is too many. Keep the stupid GOPRO out of the cockpit.
We have told people not to use GOPRO cameras in the cockpit, the PIC should not be using a Camera during tow. We do allow people doing introductory rides to use cameras, but no pilots in command.
The instructors should put more emphasis in the training process toward no obstruction tow emphasis. I have seen a very good instructor while doing a BFR ask the pilot to look down and see the object on the ground, only not to have any object there. The emphasis was to evaluate what the pilot did on tow. Thinks like this should be done in training flights especially with new glider pilots. I commend you for sending the message to your club members, I think I will have a sign made that says, Don't Kill Your Tow Pilot, and place it in plain view in the hangar. I am sure someone will ask the stupid question, "What Does That Mean"!