... and collided with a truck that one of the other contestants had parked next to the runway in violation of contest procedures. The glider submarined the body of the truck.”
Please keep Tom in your prayers a quick recovery, and full recovery.
Ron Branham

I would caution against speculation. The truck was actually parked behind the service road adjacent to the runway. Whether or not it was in violation of the Contest's procedures remains to be proven in this forum as no one has provided a copy of the contest's ground procedures or the Pilot's Packet for further examination on RAS.

I was present but did not witness the impact until after I heard the noise as I had my back turned to the incident when it happened. For the record, I was not a pilot entrant in this contest. The vehicle in question was in fact parked behind the service road. That said, the further back vehicles, trailers, people, etc. are from the launch operation the greater margin there is for error or unexpected events like this. I look forward to reading the NTSB report if only to get their viewpoint on the accident. We should all learn from others misfortunes when they happen. I also realize that it could happen to me someday... It's something I'm sure all the pilots that were present have given much thought to since the accident.

Best wishes to Tom and his family for a speedy recovery. Sadly, it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more down to earth, safety conscious guy than Tom. Get well soon Tom!

- Chris Schrader