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Video: A Crash Landing From The Pilot's Point Of View
Talk about a crash landing. While flying over Cleveland National Forest, Larry E. Hockensmith, a student glider pilot and licensed power pilot of almost 40 years, thought he was going in for a smooth landing. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the nearby mailbox, which caught the right wing of the sailplane about 8 inches from the tip.
While many would be embarrassed about the guffaw, Hockensmith instead is choosing to own up to his mistake of lingering on the "lee-side of a ridge over rough terrain," and to make the crash into a learning experience. Not only did his soaring club host a safety meeting where they watched the full 16-minute video and participated in discussions, but Hockensmith also posted the video to the YouTube community, asking them how they thought the differences between the training of a power pilot and glider pilot could have affected the outcome.
"Going into that turn I wanted to make sure I did not stall and added a bit too much airspeed," Hockensmith explains. "Next time, hitting the spoilers, dropping airspeed and putting the skid down fast might produce a better outcome."
If you found this interesting, the pilot will be posting more videos on this in the near future. You can click here to follow his YouTube account.
Filed under: Learning, Stories, North America, United States, Video, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Scott Jul 13th 2012 6:59PM
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Any landing that you can use the plane again is a GREAT landing.
Dan Jul 13th 2012 2:05PM
Its a GLIDER,no motor,you only have so much ALTITUDE once its released from the TOW PLANE.
W Frack Jul 13th 2012 2:10PM
Why did he land on the road? Because of poor planning and execution errors in flight.
He should have known about existing wind conditions, taken that into account when planning his tow, communicated that to the tow pilot, and then as soon as he was airborne he should have checked if actual conditions were different from planned conditions and adjusted his flight plan accordingly.
I am a gilder pilot. I too had one off-field landing - all due to MY inattention and lack of planning. Fortunately I landed in an open field with no damage to me, the plane, or the surrounding environment. Unfortunately there was damage to my ego and my wallet. Both well deserved and I learned from my lesson. This happened in 1987l; I've never had an off-field field landing since.
As is almost always true in airplane accidents the true cause is pilot error.
brian Jul 13th 2012 10:22PM
Takes a tall adult to admit to his or her mistakes. Thanks for sharing, sir or ma'am!
quinn Jul 13th 2012 2:22PM
o my gosh, that was a close one.....imagine if his propeller were to fly into someone's house willy nilly....or his gas tank explodes on impact near a school!
jim Jul 13th 2012 3:03PM
Quinn, you do realize that he had NEITHER item that you mention don't you.
Michael Valente Jul 13th 2012 2:26PM
its funny how just stupid people sound. Bill... your comment was beyond stupid, i actually felt stupid after reading it. Yes, planes do normally land in airstrips, and YES that was a plane. the video is titled "A Crash Landing From The Pilot's Point Of View" A CRASH LANDING general is synonymous with emergency landing. i dont want to live on this planet anymore.
Emilio Crosby Jul 13th 2012 2:30PM
Crash landing? That was a classic Trash Landing.
LtDan43 Jul 13th 2012 3:11PM
The level of ignorance manifested by some of these comments is the perfect demonstration of why most people are not and could not be pilots. e.g.; "Also Seems to me he came in at an angle that was ridiculous could he have possible come straighter down the road and maybe stayed in the middle?"
Wow!
wil2660 Jul 13th 2012 7:08PM
Oh please LtDan, educate us ignorant ones.
Bill Jul 13th 2012 2:49PM
I was taught that gliders fly from an "inverted cone" with a safe landing area in the center, to another "inverted cone". He should have stayed in his last cone.
Ladylucc Jul 15th 2012 7:43PM
WOW!! Excellent job!! Bet those undies need changing!!
sinbad usn Jul 13th 2012 3:03PM
all things considered, it was a beautiful landing.To answer the questions asked, the reason he did not land at an airport is because he was flying a glider rather than a powered aircraft. Gliders rely upon thermals, or rising heat from the ground, to give them altitude, thus endurance in the air. When thermals are just not cooperating with you, a glider, not being powered, has this great desire to return to mother earth, even if it IS too far away from an airport to make it there. The fields shown in the vidio were too short for the glider to land in. There were various flor and fauna in them, and the streets appeared to be too short, were curved(planes don't steer like a car),and obstical in the way. It was much safer to land on the road he chose- long and straight and empty of traffic. Except for that onnnnneteeency trascan that he nailed. Hope that answers your questions?
LtDan43 Jul 13th 2012 3:16PM
Great answer, best comment yet.
Chuck Jul 13th 2012 10:34PM
I'm a glider pilot. The list of "mistakes" or "lapse of judgement" are significant here. Larry admits to some of them in the comments, and bravo for that, but I am surprised that people are describing this as a "great" or "perfect" landing. Even he admits he was too fast, too late in deciding to go home, no spoilers, etc. He also overshot the final turn, and corrected to avoid the trees. He cited 6 knots of sink, but his vario shows 0-2 most of the flight. Also, the entire flight is 20 minutes, so he didn't have the lift give out, he just waited until he was too low to make it home. That type of glider has no brakes, and will roll forever on asphalt, especially at that speed. Had it not been for the mailbox, it would have been something else. Dirt would have been much better. I read one Youtube comment where he said he "brushed" the trees. A little more to the left, and he could have easily died. We have lost many in the past few years to bad calls in the cockpit. I'm glad he is making every opportunity to learn all he can from this. I have a number of scary stories to tell, but thankfully none as scare as this one. I hope to keep it that way.
quinn Jul 13th 2012 3:18PM
gotcha jim!....yeah, i'm just funnin' you.....thought i'd bring some levity (intended) to this forum......pilots are such a serious bunch and some are getting their panties in a twist conversing with us groundlings
wil2660 Jul 13th 2012 3:58PM
At least he didn't crash and burn.
truthbs Jul 13th 2012 4:11PM
Flying, 90% Boaring,10% shear Terror!! You just saw the 10%!!
Jeanne Jul 13th 2012 5:42PM
LtDan,
I agree!!!
kiki Jul 13th 2012 7:41PM
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