Another glider crash?

In my glider the gear up position is
marked with hot pink duct tape as well as
the landing flap position and the spoiler
and gear handles as additional reminders
to check the gear.

There's a 4x4" green vinyl square at the
gear down position.

The gear handle is tucked down by my
thigh when up. It's now easy to see it's
down.

The LS gear is even better as it will shred
your knuckles if you pull spoilers with the
gear up.

It was reported that the pilot tried to make 3 landing attempts..........where did he get the energy to do that? More likely he hade a high-speed low pass, then pulled up, turned around and grabbed the wrong lever (gear handle instead of spoilers) flew the entire length of the runway wondering why the ship wasn't descending, then tried to turn around a second time and probably entered a stall-spin scenario as evidenced by the crumpled mess shown in the photo.
There is something missing here,
JJ

The LS gear is even better as it will shred
your knuckles if you pull spoilers with the
gear up.



I believe that this is true for the LS4, LS4a and LS4b only.

Jim

A few people have mentioned 'tunnel vision'.

I've heard of 'tunnel vision' associated with hypoxia, and also with the 'fight or flight adrenaline response' where vision is literally narrowed to the center of the visual field. Tunnel vision is like you're looking through a tube. The field of vision is narrowed to a few degrees.

But in this case, are people actually suggesting 'mental fixation' where the mind is unable to switch to an alternate course of action or alternate explanation for what is happening? For example, pilot becomes fixated on the idea that the spoilers are malfunctioning and fails to realize that he is holding the gear lever? This metaphoric, but not literal 'tunnel vision'.

My reason for asking is that I'm wondering whether 'mental fixation' is more likely during the 'fight or flight adrenaline response'? Is there any training or habits of mind that will reduce the tendency to mental fixation. Is a tendency to 'mentally fixate' a part of the normal aging process? Does fatigue increase the tendency to mentally fixate?

These questions have general medical/technical answers, but it would be useful hear anecdotes of how individuals have been tripped up by mental fixation in the context of soaring. I'd like to think about how I might find myself fixating while piloting and how I might spot that when it is happening and 'snap out of it'. Knowing about the case of 'grabbing the gear handle and thinking it is the spoiler handle' might pop into my mind if I'm ever in that situation. It would be useful to know of other common cases of fixation in piloting gliders.

On Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 2:13:54 PM UTC-7, Ron Gleason wrote:
Saratoga NY, news report here

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s391... dium=twitter

The same thing could happen in a Blanik, except it was the flaps and the spoilers that could be confused. I witnessed two crashes in a blanik, one ended in a ground loop just before a barbed wire fence at El Tiro, and another landed off the end of the runway in the sage brush at AirSailing. Call it tunnel vision or in full panic mode, the pilot kept pulling harder on the flaps as the runway was passing underneath getting shorter all the time.

BG

I fresh idea. I shall paint a half dollar size green dot in the wheel down and locked position and a red square in the wheel retracted position. Less confusing than arrows or just color, square does not roll.

It was not until my most recent BFR that the instructor was requiring a visual check of the airbrakes and also required the airbrakes to be check full open as he explained there have been several incidents where the airbrakes became locked in the full up position. So now I check the airbrakes in the fully deployed position where if they became locked in the full up I could still make some type of pattern to land. I also added a tubular gauze to the airbrake handle to change the tactile feel from the flaps.

On Wednesday, 23 September 2015 08:14:15 UTC+2, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I fresh idea. I shall paint a half dollar size green dot in the wheel down and locked position and a red square in the wheel retracted position. Less confusing than arrows or just color, square does not roll.

What happens when you forget what a square shape represents during the heat of the moment or someone else flies your glider?

The words UP and DOWN (or EXTENDED and RETRACTED) cannot be confused and since language is usually one of the last things one loses when your brain starts failing, it's probably the safest bet.
If my brain can't interpret UP/DOWN then in all likely hood I've already lost all my motor skills and a crash is inevitable.

At 07:19 23 September 2015, Surge wrote:
On Wednesday, 23 September 2015 08:14:15 UTC+2, Jonathan St. Cloud
wrote:
I fresh idea. I shall paint a half dollar size green dot in the wheel
down and locked position and a red square in the wheel retracted position.

Less confusing than arrows or just color, square does not roll.

What happens when you forget what a square shape represents during the
heat
of the moment or someone else flies your glider?

The words UP and DOWN (or EXTENDED and RETRACTED) cannot be
confused and
since language is usually one of the last things one loses when your
brain
starts failing, it's probably the safest bet.
If my brain can't interpret UP/DOWN then in all likely hood I've already
lost all my motor skills and a crash is inevitable.


Gear up or down should not be a real problem if you are landing on grass
and
it is locked in either position you won't hurt yourself .
The problem is when you pick the wrong lever and don't realise .
It's the not realising that is the real problem,there are lots of ways to
get it
wrong ,in my case release instead of decompression on the turbo or flaps
,or
wrong knob on the radio .As long as you realise and sort t out its ok the
tunnel vision is the real hazard .
My sincere commiserations to the pilot involved ,I am sure he will be
beating
himself up when he gets a bit better ,but all any one can do is hope every

one else learns from his accident and we don't have to keep repeating it.

My training was the USTALL checklist and once you've visually checked the spoilers don't take your hand off the handle. I'd like to think that I always do it that way. I'd also like to think that I've never started a take-off roll with the spoilers unlocked but I know I have. Also, as an ASW 15 driver, I find it difficult to imagine confusing the spoiler and gear handles. But, like I just said, I also find it difficult to believe that I would start a take off roll with spoilers unlocked.

Memory fades but I seem to recall the Blanik's (L-13) brake being a
lever on the floor. I don't remember how the L-23 brake worked.

On 9/23/2015 12:03 AM, BG wrote:
On Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 2:13:54 PM UTC-7, Ron Gleason wrote:
Saratoga NY, news report here

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s391... dium=twitter
The same thing could happen in a Blanik, except it was the flaps and the spoilers that could be confused. I witnessed two crashes in a blanik, one ended in a ground loop just before a barbed wire fence at El Tiro, and another landed off the end of the runway in the sage brush at AirSailing. Call it tunnel vision or in full panic mode, the pilot kept pulling harder on the flaps as the runway was passing underneath getting shorter all the time.

BG

--
Dan, 5J