Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to relinquish the flight controls during landing when the flight instructor told him to do so, and the instructor’s subsequent inability to properly control the glider, which led to a hard landing.
NTSB analysis
The flight instructor and student pilot were conducting an instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that, during the landing, he told the student, “I have the flight controls”; however, the student did not relinquish them. As a result, the instructor was unable to control the glider, which resulted in a hard landing and the student pilot sustaining serious injuries.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA18TA267 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Sep 22, 2018
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Groveland, Florida
- Nearest airport
- Seminole Lake (6FL0)
- Highest injury
- Serious
- Serious injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Grob G103 TWIN ASTIR
- N-number
- N72EJ
- Category
- Glider
- Year built
- 1979
- Damage
- Minor
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.