ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 212026
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| Date: | Saturday 9 June 2018 |
| Time: | 11:15 |
| Type: |  LET L-23 Super Blanik |
| Owner/operator: | Teton Aviation Center |
| Registration: | N317BA |
| MSN: | 978406 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1997 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3782 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Icefloe Lake, Grand Tetons National Park, WY -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Driggs Reed Memorial Airport, ID (KDIJ) |
| Driggs Reed Memorial Airport, ID (KDIJ) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot and one passenger departed on a sightseeing tour flight in the glider. After being released from the tow airplane about 13,800 ft mean sea level (msl), the glider pilot proceeded to fly over a national park near mountainous terrain. A video recording of the flight from the passenger's cell phone recorded the pilot state, "this is not good" twice and "I'm in trouble" as the glider neared the terrain. The glider impacted terrain between two mountain peaks (elevations about 12,800 ft msl and 12,500 ft msl) at an elevation about 11,000 ft msl.
A review of weather data found upper level winds were from the south-southwest, which likely provided no significant orographic lift in the area of the accident site on the western side of the mountains and likely provided some downdraft activity due to the range immediately south.
It is likely that the pilot maneuvered the glider close to terrain in an attempt to attain lift, but encountered atmospheric conditions that resulted in a loss of lift, a loss of control, and a subsequent impact with terrain.
According to the operator's tour flight procedures, aircraft were not permitted to fly within the boundaries of the national park and were to maintain a minimum altitude of 2,000 ft above terrain. It is likely that compliance with the company's published procedures would have ensured terrain separation during the flight even in the event of an encounter with adverse wind conditions.
Probable Cause: The pilot's encounter with atmospheric conditions that resulted in a loss of lift and a subsequent loss of control near terrain that precluded recovery. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to follow the operator's published tour flight procedures regarding flight over the national park and minimum altitudes over and distance from terrain.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Media:
Delaware opera singer Kristine Ciesinski dies in Wyoming glider plane crash july 9, 2018.
— Planes Of Legend (@PlanesOfLegend) 27 juillet 2018
At 10 a.m. on June 9, like she had hundreds of times before, Ciesinski flew into the Grand Teton mountains on the southwestern edge of Wyoming near Jackson Hole...https://t.co/nwpoL9mOmG pic.twitter.com/EEX1gkbih7
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jun-2018 16:29 | Geno | Added |
| 11-Jun-2018 16:40 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Destination airport, Source, Damage] |
| 11-Jun-2018 16:43 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage] |
| 11-Jun-2018 17:57 | harro | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 27-Jul-2018 20:09 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 27-Jul-2018 20:10 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 15-Aug-2020 16:01 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 15-Aug-2020 18:38 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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