Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 9, 2022, at 1737 mountain daylight time, a HPH SPOL SRO Glasflugel 304MS powered glider, N249SD, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident at the Rifle Garfield County Airport (RIL), Rifle, Colorado. The pilot was fatally injured. The glider was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
According to automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) flight tracking the flight originated about 1200 from RIL. The glider proceeded in a generally westward direction for about 160 miles before turning back eastward. At 1712, the glider was about 45 miles north of RIL at 14,300 ft mean sea level (msl), when it turned to the south toward RIL. At 1735, the glider was about 2 miles west of RIL at 7,600 ft msl when it began a left turn onto a downwind traffic pattern leg for runway 26. The published field elevation for RIL was 5,337 ft msl. When the glider was on the downwind leg, about abeam the midfield location, it began descending rapidly. The descent rate during the last 47 seconds of the flight was calculated to be more than 1,600 ft/min.
The RIL airport was an uncontrolled airport and communications were conducted on a common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). CTAF at RIL was recorded and copies of the communications were provided for the investigation. On the recording, the pilot of the accident glider reported “heavy sink going for left downwind two six”. There was no time index on the CTAF recording provided.
A video surveillance recording from RIL captured the accident. The camera was positioned about 1,000 ft east and 400 ft north of the runway 26 approach threshold. The camera was positioned to capture the approach end of runway 26 with the center of the view oriented about 150 degrees magnetic. In the video, the glider can be seen descending in a left-wing-low attitude and striking the ground at time index 1737:49. During this portion of the flight, the glider appeared to travel in a northeasterly direction consistent with the ADS-B track data. About the time the glider descended, a dust cloud appeared in the background travelling in the same direction as the glider, consistent with a strong tailwind. The surveillance video provided showed virga forming in the clouds above the airport about 12 minutes after the accident.
The 1753 surface weather observation at RIL recorded wind from 290° at 5 kts, gusting to 16 kts. The remarks section of the observation noted a peak wind from 190° at 43 kts, which occurred at 1739. Weather radar animations showed a dissipating rain shower cell move from west to east-southeast across the area along with areas of virga noted in the airport surveillance and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) weather camera imagery. Airport surveillance and FAA weather surveillance video both showed blowing dust from 1735 to 1739 across the airport, indicative of strong winds. The upper air sounding for the area indicated the potential for surface wind speeds