Report on accident at Hatten in Lesja Municipality, Oppland county, 24 September 2015 with Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co Segelflugzeugbau ASW 24, LN-GNA
Aviation report 2018/03 eng
English translation now available. Thursday evening 24 September 2015 a sailplane was reported missing after a flight from Bjorli airfield. Monday 28 September, the sailplane was located. It had crash-landed on the mountain Hatten in Lesja Municipality, Oppland county approximately 40 km east of the airport. The commander was found fatally injured 56 meters away from the sailplane. Photos and explanations from other glider pilots together with meteorological observations, shows that there were several layers of clouds in the area where the flight was performed. The AIBN believes that the way the flying was performed in the last few minutes of the flight, was done in an attempt to continue the flight in visual conditions. This has gradually led the flight into or toward conditions where the pilot most likely was unable to continue the flight under visual conditions and thus ended up in a situation where bailing out from the sailplane became the only option.
According to the GPS track-log found in the sailplane,the pilot began his flight from Bjorli at 1221. After an approximately five hour long flight in the local area around Bjorli airfield, the sailplane headed east. The rest of the flight, until the sailplane crash-landed at 1904, was mostly made between Digervarden in the West and Dovrefjell in the East.
Shortly prior to the accident, the pilot transmitted a distress call which was received by glider pilots in the vicinity of Bjorli airfield. The distress call contained no details regarding the emergency or the position of the sailplane.
During the following days, a large-scale search was carried out and on the fourth day of the search, the sailplane was located. The pilot was found fatally injured outside the sailplane. The pilot chute had deployed but the main chute was still folded. The investigation has revealed that the pilot attempted to bail out from the sailplane at to low altitude above the terrain in order for the main chute to deploy. He was killed when he hit the ground.
Facts
| Location | Hatten, Lesja municipality, Oppland county, Norway |
| Occurrence date | 24.09.2015 |
| ICAO Location indicator | ENBL |
| Aircraft | Øvrige seilfly |
| Operator | Private |
| Registration | LN-GNA |
| Meteorological conditions | VMC |
| County | Oppland |
| Type of occurrence | Accident |
| Type of operation | Private |
| Category of operation | Light, aeroplane (< 5 700kg) |
| Aircraft category | Sailplane (incl. motorglider) |
| FIR/AOR | ENBD (Bodø ATCC) |