NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident

On Sep 28, 8:56*am, "vaughn"
wrote:
"Wayne Paul" wrote in message

news
Bill is correct. *The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to
close it. *I can make this statement as a "voice of experience."
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm

To add to Wayne's excellent post, the following canopy-caused accident
always sticks in my mind. *It caused fatal injuries to a paying passenger,
severe injuries to the Commercial pilot, & less severe injusies to the tow
pilot. *There happened to be an FAA inspector watching the accident happen,
so the witness description is probably better than most.

"A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector witnessed
the accident. In a
written statement the Inspector said:

"My attention was drawn to the glider by its erratic pitch changes. As I
concentrated on the

glider I saw that the rear canopy had opened and the person in the rear seat
extended an arm toward

the open canopy. At the same time, the glider pitched up rather steeply and
the arm returned

inside the glider. With the canopy still open, the glider reduced its pitch
but remained on high

tow. This effort to close the canopy occurred at least three times with the
glider going higher

and higher. Toward the end of the runway, the tow plane began to descend
then pitch up once or

twice then descend and impact the ground. As the tow plane impacted the
ground, the glider, which

was much higher and still on the tow rope, continued forward and climbing
and the tow rope became

almost vertical...[which] separated from the glider and fell in a pile by
the tow plane. The

glider continued...beyond the tow plane...rolled left to the inverted
position...and impacted the

ground..."

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...9FA004B&rpt=fa

Like I said, this one sticks in my mind, but if you search the NTSB database
you will find too many more.

Vaughn

I should have added that when letting a student open a canopy in
flight, it is done at low airspeed and in a glider whose canopy is
known to be easily opened and closed in flight. There are many
expensive two-east gliders with canopies costing thousands of dollars
that I would never let a student risk.

On at least one occasion a student of mine who had experienced a
deliberate canopy opening with me later suffered an inadvertent
opening and handled it well. He told me the story years after his
training.

Bill Daniels