This is the report that I really didn't want to write. We were doing well and growing when _____ . On Sunday, June 16, (for those of you who are just returning from the back side of the moon) we lost 341KS to a very unfortunate accident. Now, I know you all want lots of details on exactly what happened. But I'm here to tell you that I wasn't at the scene, and I really don't know exactly what happened. I was at FRR when the accident occurred, and I'll tell you what I know. The details of the accident will be made available when the Safety Board completes its review. In the meantime, we are all served best by keeping speculation to a minimum.

Sometime about mid-afternoon, Fred Winter, together with a passenger, decided to take a launch. Fred mentioned that he might try the ridge and-this is important-he took with him both his cell phone and his hand-held radio. About a half-hour later, I noticed Kit on a cell phone, apparently talking to Fred. At that time, I became aware that the K had crashed in the trees on the ridge. We cancelled operations. It's important to do this so that our resources are available to deal with the situation at hand. Kevin Fleet, who was the DO, and Dave Weaver left almost immediately, albeit not knowing exactly where they were going. They took a cell phone and a hand-held radio. Shortly after that, Kit flew off in the Pawnee to locate the wreckage. Geoff gave Kit our GPS in hopes that he could read out the coordinates of the K when he found it. The rest of us stayed behind to close up shop and to do whatever we could.

We put the Grob away and walked out onto the ramp to listen to the search. As Kit dropped below the ridge, his transmissions became quite broken and, of course, we couldn't hear anything coming from the ground on the far side of the ridge. Catching about every third word, it was apparent that Kit was having trouble finding the wreckage. We paced the tarmac and waited anxiously. We tried calling 866 for an update, but our transmissions went unheard. Eventually, it became clear that Kit had found the K. I don't know exactly how the search progressed, but I could gather that the hand-held Fred took with him played a major role in the search. The radio in the K was inoperative as the antenna was in the tail, which separated from the forward part of the fuselage in the crash. A great deal of credit should go to Kit. This was not an easy search.

In the meantime, Kevin and Dave were nearing the scene, but with no clear idea where the crash site was or how to get there. They had to cross the river first, but how? Kit found a bridge and helped direct them and the rescue units to the scene. We needed to coordinate with Kevin and Dave. What could we do? A bit of sleuthing revealed Kevin's cell phone number, and we called. Kevin gave us an update, but they had not reached the scene. About 5 PM, Kit returned to refuel. He liked our GPS, but couldn't read it out while circling. So we still didn't have a perfect location on the crash site. Kit went back up to orbit over the site and help direct the rescue efforts. Just as everyone's batteries were failing, Kevin and Dave made contact with Fred.

My understanding is that it took some time yet for the rescue team to extract Fred and his passenger. They were taken to a local medical facility for examination and released later that evening. The good news was that there were no broken bones and nothing requiring hospitalization. Our best wishes go out to Fred and his passenger for a speedy recovery from their lingering pains. We did lose the K, but things could have been considerably worse. The speedy search and rescue did a great deal to keep the situation from becoming worse. Without the communications provided by cell phone and hand-held radios, the rescue operation would not have started as quickly as it did, nor is it likely that the crash site would have been found as quickly. It is entirely possible that the search could have extended into the next day. Let's all learn from this-when you go cross-country, it's very important to carry redundant communications equipment. Think about taking a GPS. The best thing is to give the rescue or recovery team your latitude and longitude. At least then they know where you are.

There are a number of lessons we can learn from just what I have discussed. In any rescue operation, communications is very important. Be sure to establish a good communications procedure before leaving to participate in the rescue. Make sure someone is in charge at FRR, and provide them with the information necessary to communicate with you. Bring a GPS and hand-held radio if at all possible. Know how to use the GPS. In our haste to get Kit up, we got our GPS locked on, but we didn't instruct Kit in its use. There is a very simple way to mark a position, and he could have done that had we taken just a moment to tell him. Sometimes, a few minutes spent in preparation can save a lot of time later. I think we'll be analyzing this whole event for a long time, there is a lot to learn.

Now let me move on to what we are doing to recover from this unfortunate event. The Board held an emergency meeting on Sunday, June 23. We have begun a search for a replacement aircraft. Showing their incredible support for the Club, both Fred Winter and Bob Neff, owners of the K, have agreed to apply the insurance reimbursement toward the purchase of a replacement aircraft. This is very good news. The bad news is that it is not possible to get a replacement aircraft all that fast. The Board has suggested that the preferred replacement aircraft will be another ASK-21. But they are not easy to find. We are looking, and might have an option on a new one. But don't expect that we can get a replacement much before the end of the year.

Second, the Club's Safety Board is gathering the facts related to the accident, and will convene soon. We can expect that the Board will produce a report, and will make recommendations to improve safety in our future operations.

Third, the Board agreed that it would be appropriate to hold a mid-year safety meeting for the entire Club membership. Dave Weaver is working on an agenda for this meeting and will announce a date soon. As with all Club safety meetings, this will be mandatory-either be there or watch the tape.

Fourth, we will soon strengthen our DO training. I'm sure Kevin's experience on this recovery will provide us with some interesting insights.

Right now, this is about all I can tell you. Stay tuned and, in the meantime, take extra care to fly safely.
-- George Hazelrigg, Jr

If any of you have specific questions or concerns that I can address, please e-mail me or call me at home (703-361-3433). If anyone outside the club has questions, please refer them to me and please do not attempt to speculate on the answers. On a positive note, I must give significant credit to club members, Kevin Fleet, Kit Carson and Team Hazelrigg for helping to bring this event to the best possible conclusion.
-- Dave Weaver

It is a site you will never forget. Total destruction-and the occupants were released from the hospital that night. They went in like a "lawn-dart" and were released from the hospital later that night. Something to be said for the ASK's ability to protect its occupants. And the terrain...rugged???....when you see this, and realize that this is the ground we all soar over a lot....well, you'll see!

Thanks, to the rest of the group at the airport, for putting things away. And thanks to Geoff, for the D.O. report.

Thanks to Kit Carson, for providing visual and audio directional data to the rescue parties. He circled the Pawnee over the site so we could find our way in, ran low on fuel, got more, and returned-by then we had reached the site.

Thanks to Dave Weaver, for providing transportation to the site, and coordinating rescue efforts with other parties-Va. State Police, Fire, Rescue, Game Warden (this guy took us further off the road in his SUV than you would ever believe!! )

-- Kevin Fleet

Kevin said the things I have been trying to think of how to say, and did a lot of the research about finding the landowner, etc. that I was dreading. Many, many, thanks, Kevin. I am proud to be part of a group with members like you and all the others that who dropped everything to come to our aid.
-- Fred Winter

After discussion with Dave Weaver, who is serving as the point of contact around the K-21 accident, I spoke by phone with Dan Liebermann. Dan was the passenger in the K-21 with Fred. The purpose of the conversation was not to review the accident, but rather to express the corporate concern of the club for his physical and emotional welfare through this unfortunate event.

Fred Winter had also spoken with Dan shortly before my call. Dan expressed gratitude on hearing from both Fred and from me as a representative of the club.

Dan related that he felt sore, but was happy to be otherwise in good condition. His physician had conveyed an expectation of no permanent impairment from the accident.

Somewhat to my surprise, Dan asked that I specifically convey his thanks the club members who were there that day and who were involved in the extrication from the forest. Dan spoke repeatedly of the dedication and care with which he was treated at their hands.

Dan also said that he was not yet sure whether he'd be back out to fly again. It was definitely not out of the question. He offered that he'd flown in gliders before and knew how wonderful an experience it was. He also seemed to appreciate how thankfully rare his unfortunate flight was in the K. He expressed appreciation for Fred's expertise as a pilot, in spite of the flight's end.

At the conclusion of our conversation, Dan said that regardless of whether he flew again with us or not, he did want to come out some time and buy us a round of beer! When I assured him that the beer would be on us, he countered me, saying that we could get the second round, but the first was on him. He was serious, and very thankful for all of your help that day.
-- John Lewis

Here's a recap of a June 8th flight to the Winchester Mayor's picnic.

We were rolling down the runway about a quarter past eleven. Off tow at 2500 feet into a 2-300 foot thermal, climbed about a thousand feet, and headed out. I tried to tell Lewis Martin who was crewing for me, but the batteries in the radio had gone dead.

Anyway we went under two or three clouds all the way to I-66/I-81 intersection with not a bump of any kind. About a mile or so back toward the airport I noticed a cloud that seemed a little darker than the rest. So, with nothing to lose except altitude we went for it's a steady 300 fpm right up to about 500 feet of cloud base, about 4000' what a relief.

The clouds looked a lot more promising over on the west side of the valley most likely because of the more direct morning sun on their eastern flank; so, we made a bee line for them getting about 2-300 fpm to show for it.

We stayed with the ridge northward up to a point about midway between US-50 and 522 where we bumped into the first good thermal big cloud brewing above it. So, with stick between the legs I proceeded to swap out the dead batteries while somehow managing to stay in the lift. Embarrassingly it seemed like ol' "289" does better in thermals, when the nut-that-holds-the-stick isn't paying attention... hummm.

At the top of the thermal and with fresh batteries I tried to call Lewis, but since he hadn't heard from me, he'd implemented plan B, that is an hour after take-off, head for the picnic. Anyway one more thermal near the lake about 15 miles from Winchester just south of 522, and our destination was in sight. We tried to remain aloft until my crew showed up, but got low and had to land about twenty minutes before he arrived.

It seems to be a tradition that when you land your plane at Omps International, the mayor, Larry Omps, gives you a souvenir tee-shirt. Kind of cool; got two now.
-- -"289" (Name withheld to protect the guilty)

The June/July issue of Air & Space has an article entitled "Probable Cause". It is an excerpt from the book "The Mystery of Flight 427". In this excerpt Skyline Soaring Club member NTSB Investigator Greg Phillips plays a prominent roll.

I emailed Greg that I had read the article, assuming he was aware it had run. The following is Greg's response which will make clear why we won't see much of him this summer. Thanks Phil. I was unaware that A&S was running the article. I appreciate the heads up. My phone always starts ringing after these come out and I appear a little slow sometimes when I'm not sure what was said. I got a copy of the magazine and I'm now ready to answer the phone.

Bill Adair's book is a very good representation of what occupied a few years of my life. For the most part, books on accident investigations are over done and often filled with serious technical errors. Bill Adair gets it very close to "right". I found the book very readable even when I knew the outcome. My only complaint (and in a very minor way) is that it pays too much attention at times to the politics of the investigation. USAir 427 wasn't much different than any other investigation in that everyone wanted to know what happened and hoped that they didn't have something to do with the cause. Fortunately, we worked through this one and I think we made the 737 a safer airplane for the work.

Take care and keep up the good work on the newsletter. Unfortunately, I'm leading the US team investigating the China Airlines 747 that exploded leaving Taiwan last month. Looks like the summer and near future will be spent a long way from home. For 12 years of a previous life I did a lot of work for USAir's corporate headquarters including 3 annual reports. I've flown into Pittsburgh on 737's more times than I can count. On short final there sure is a lot of landscape whizzing by. All this took place before Flight 427. I'm glad I didn't know about it then.

"The Mystery of Flight 427" by Bill Adair. The Smithsonian Institution Press. http://www.sipress.si.edu
-- Phil Jordan

Flying is inherently a dangerous profession. So many unexpected things can happen. It is even a more dangerous sport. The reason is weekend recreational pilots rarely have the same level of safety awareness that is hammered into the professional airline pilot or military pilot. Safety is a big deal when you are flying multi-million dollar machines with many passengers on board-and still accidents happen. That should send a strong message to the Student or Private/Commercial Pilot who has his own aircraft or glider. How much time do you spend in expensive simulators practicing and being evaluated on emergency procedures? Probably zero my friend so the odds are you are not even fully aware of your own personal limitations or the limitations of your equipment in dangerous situations.

My theory is that safety margins go down when you are flying your own machine. Why? Because it is human nature to take more risks when you only have to answer to yourself. It is a dangerous state of mind for a pilot. A prudent weekend pilot should actually increase the size of his personal safety margins and personal margins for error if he is at all interested in preservation of self and expensive equipment. But time and time again we see qualified but relatively inexperienced pilots flying their ships to the edge of their abilities for the conditions at hand.

I have over 6,000 hours flying military and commercial aircraft and have never had a major accident, incident or flight violation. I have survived plenty of emergencies situations. I have avoided many more just due to the level of training I have received and experience I have gained over the years. But you know what? I only have 40 hours in gliders and I have a healthy respect for my lack of experience in these machines. And maybe it takes experience to know and admit to yourself that you don't necessarily have the experience you may think you have. I don't know.

I do know this. We have had two major accidents recently with pilots trying to fly the ridge from our club. I don't know all the particulars, nor do I wish to speculate as to why these accidents happened. For myself, I am going to increase the size of my personal safety margins and the margins I allow for personal error when attempting to "work" the Massanutten Ridge on a day when the ridge is working. How about you? If the ridge is working, there are strong wind conditions out there. Do you know how far the glide distance is from the north edge of the ridge back to the field? How much will the tailwind help you coming back? Will you be able to penetrate upwind if you have to land out in the valley? Do you know the glide ratio of your aircraft and what minimum altitude you are going to accept before heading back? Do you know your own personal limitations and ability to fly low level at higher speeds that what you are used to? Are you prepared at any given moment to pull off the ridge and safely land out?

Experience tells us that the ridge is not for the inexperienced. That is not to say you should not go out there. But if you do, treat it with the respect it deserves as a planned cross country event. Prepare for it. Announce your intentions. Have a ground crew standing by. Know your distances. And for God's sake, know your limitations (yours and your aircraft's).
-- Stan Pawlowski

• Al Dresner passed away on June 28th of a heart attack. When more information becomes available, I'll pass it on.-Bob Collier

• I've found the Blipmaps provided by Dr. Jack's website to be quite good, and a big help in predicting the next day's soaring conditions. (But like any forecast, they're not perfect.) The main page for our area can be found at:

  http://www.drjack.net/BLIPMAP/NE/index.html

  If you've looked at them and found them useful, (or think you might), then you might want to be aware of the following request for non-financial support from Dr. Jack. He is retiring, and will not have the ability to generate these in the future, so he has been looking for a new home for the program.

• SSA Member help requested!-In brief: The SSA is considering hosting the BLIPMAP processing. It would be helpful if SSA members who benefit from the BLIPMAPs would register their support for this proposal by emailing the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Tim Wells timwelles@earthlink.net with CCs to me drjack@drjack.net and Jim Payne JPAviation@aol.com , the person on the board who has been most supportive of this proposal so that we will also know of your support. More information is provided here:

  http://www.drjack.net/BLIPMAP/ssa.moreinfo.html

  President Bill Vickland reports that The 126 Association is proposing they host the Blipmap site also.

• Congratulations to Raul Fumagali on his outstanding first solo flight June 9th. skylinesoaring.org/SNAPSHOTS

• The following two items aren't necessarily soaring oriented but you will find them of tremendous interest:

  The Day The Shuttle Landed Short-AVweb doesn't normally cover spacecraft accidents, but this one was just too interesting to pass up. Although not widely publicized, the space shuttle program recently had an in-flight mishap caused by a simple instrument failure that might have destroyed the orbiter and killed the entire crew... except that fortunately it occurred in the shuttle simulator, not the actual spacecraft. Although we've changed the names to protect the guilty (in case NASA doesn't have a sense of humor), we think this true-life account will prove fascinating to all pilots especially glider and instrument pilots. After all, a shuttle landing is just a very steep instrument approach by the world's heaviest glider. - http://www.avweb.com/toc/safety.html

• A Spinning Yarn-Buzzing and hot-dogging are the leading spin scenarios, often by highly qualified pilots who ought to know better. As Pat Veillette recently reported in Aviation Safety, the solution may not be more spin training, but more training in good judgement.- http://www.avweb.com/articles/spinningyarn/

• FOR SALE-Reluctantly OPEN CIRRUS 19M-650 Total Time Hrs This "vintage" sailplane has been partially restored and needs more work-More sweat equity than dollars will be required to complete this restoration. Priced for IMMEDIATE Sale $5,000 Includes: Covered trailer, Avionics, Tail Dolly, Wingstand. Call Bob at 818-842-7040 or Email: MeBob49@AOL.Com (You can read about this ship-a relatively interesting ship in the historical sense-on the Cirrus website-see http://classicsailplane.org/Cirrus and look for No. 4. FOR SALE Schempp-Hirth Open Cirrus-S/N 37 - 908 Hrs. TT March Annual Cambridge L-Nav Terra 250D/AT 3000 Transponder/Encoder Dittel FSG 71M 720 Channel Transceiver Winter Mech. Vario, Altimeter, Airspeed Indicator(All rebuilt in Dec-98) Tinted Canopy Gap seals Metal trailer w new paint, electric brakes, new tires,new wiring Ground handling equipment

  Beautiful Prestec finish, excellent condition Great handling-Easy to fly-44:1 Glide performance Hangared at Spartanburg, SC Price $ 22,500, or $ 19,500 (removing L-Nav & transponder, replacing with Ball Electric Vario.)

• Contact Steve Cameron 864-621-5550 scamcot@charter.net M-ASA has a 1-26 for sale, low time, excellent condition. Contact Leslie Elsner Bell (717) 845-4170 after 7pm or email: leslie-bell1555@suscom.net .

• Welcome new member and tow pilot Steve Wallace:

• I am withdrawning my application for membership at Skyline Soaring. I gave the Northern Virginia area my best shot. As few of you have seen me out at the field, it's all about work and not enough flying. Will be departing back to Soar Minden July 1st, 2002.

  Thank you all for the chance to fly a bit. Best wishes for a safe 2002 season.
  -- Scott Kinsey

• I'm afraid I will be leaving the area and heading to Texas (my home in Lubbock) and will no longer be flying with the Club. The Caprock Soaring Club in Littlefield, TX will be my next flying stop, I am afraid. However, I don't think I'll ever run into a more interesting, devoted bunch of pilots. It has been a real neat experience being around y'all (note the Texas twang).

  I guess I'm a casualty of the high housing prices and taxes here. Just didn't make much sense to go to work everyday and not have much to show for it.

  I'm looking forward to my retirement (although my wife thinks a tad bit less of it) but will definitely miss the comaradiery of the club. An absolutely fantastic group.
  -- Steve Peterson

• As a safety reminder, constant vigil on the field, and especially in and around the take-off/landing areas, is essential at ALL times for continued safe club operations! We can not afford to become complacent and inattentive to what's happening around us and others and must be constantly alert for unusual/unforeseen events. As an example, on June first we had an approach and landing on the taxiway that "surprised" us and caused a few seconds of considerable excitment for those of us in or near the tent. Keep looking around at all times; pay attention and stay alert.

• As a safety reminder, constant vigil on the field, and especially in and around the take-off/landing areas, is essential at ALL times for continued safe club operations! We can not afford to become complacent and inattentive to what's happening around us and others and must be constantly alert for unusual/unforeseen events. As an example, on June first we had an approach and landing on the taxiway that "surprised" us and caused a few seconds of considerable excitment for those of us in or near the tent. Keep looking around at all times; pay attention and stay alert
  -- Dick Feierabend

• It's a brave new world we live in wonderfully filled with myriad information and unlimited means of instantaneous communication. It is so easy to share your new found stuff with all the gang-just cc everyone.

  Sometimes that's exactly the best move<8A>and sometime it's not. Skylines offers you a forum for thoughtful communications-an archive of ideas that don't necessarily require instantaneous transmission.

  So next time you take mouse in hand, consider whether you need to byte-ride to half-chrisendom or whether it might make a great item for your Skylines.
  -- Phil