On Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 8:34:52 PM UTC-8, Ramy wrote:
Tom,

Check 2018. I researched a little more about those and personally knew 3 of the victims.

Ramy

Ramy,

I reviewed all of the 2018 fatal accidents listed by the NTSB:
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.a...6-ea42dfd47c36

The majority were clearly bad airmanship, but a couple are more curious. Two involved commercial flights that were CFITs (controlled flight into terrain), and totally avoidable. One of the curious ones involved pilots I am sure you knew, the Duo Discus that crashed on Slide Mtn. It did several very tight loops until it broke up. I find it hard to believe that was intentional, so why did it happen? I have never heard of an elevator jamming in the full up position, and the Duo is automatic hookup, so that wasn't the cause.. The only thing that makes sense to me is a medical emergency with the pilot flying, causing him to pull full aft on the stick, but we will probably never know.

The other was an in-flight breakup of an IS29D. This glider was thoroughly inspected by several pilots, one of which was an A&P, who was flying. Did he over-stress the glider, or did it have an undetected flaw? We will have to await a final report for any more information.

A full review of all these accidents is at the SSF website:
https://www.soaringsafety.org/accide...ual_report.doc

The bottom line is ****-poor airmanship still is THE primary cause of glider fatal accidents.

Tom