Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Glider
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 11; Flight Crew Total 435; Flight Crew Type 372
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Conflict Ground Conflict; Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Procedure
After a great flight; I had a scare upon landing in the Silent 2 Electro Motorglider. Takeoff was by tow to 2500 ft and the flight was a little over two hours with a high close to 7000 ft. I returned to the field from the north at about 2500 ft and lingered at that altitude until two gliders landed and I believed that they were safely off the field. My entry into the pattern was on a 45 degree to the downwind leg after I believed that I had cleared the runway for obstacles and airplanes being towed on the runway. I turned into the downwind leg of the pattern at midfield announcing the entry on the radio. My sight picture at the time of my entry to the downwind was that both gliders had landed and were turned to the east and either on or close to the taxiway. In speaking with another aircraft; they landed; stayed on the runway; turned 180 and then proceeded down the runway. I must have observed them as they were turning the glider and assumed that they were stopped and pointing to the east. I announced on the 45 to downwind and made my entry believing that both gliders were pointing east and not being towed to the north.Wind at this point was 17 kts from the southwest about 200 to 220. I shortened my downwind substantially to account for the higher wind on final and turned to base shorter than usual and much to my surprise there was a golf cart towing the glider in the dead middle of the runway almost to the threshold markers with a wing walker on the west side of the sailplane. Wing walkers should be on the east side of the airplane; away from landing traffic. Basically no pedestrians should be on the runway at any time except to enter or exit an aircraft or to help with the movement off of the active runway and taxi of an aircraft. I made a radio calls on my turn to base before my turn to final and during my turn to final to get them off the active runway! The instructor was walking the wing with his student driving the cart and not listening to his radio or watching for traffic entering the landing pattern.With the wind at 17 and my landing speed at 55 +1/2 the wind or 8; I was landing at 65 kts and sinking very quickly approaching the golf cart head-on with the sailplane behind it. At that point; I had no options. I would collide in the center or hit the walker and the wing if I flew to the west. There was no room with the sailplane being towed in the center of the runway. Finally they saw me and slowly began to pull to the east avoiding the collision. The new student driving the cart did not understand the urgency and had not been trained on runway procedures. The instructor told me that he thought he knew all of the sailplanes that were in the air and was not listening to his radio. His student was not at fault as the instructor was fully in charge of the taxi operation and walking the wing on the wrong side of the sailplane. I believe that this incident speaks loudly for ground safety officer controlling takeoffs; taxi operations and maintaining an awareness of airplanes or sailplanes in or close to entering the traffic pattern. No one should be on the active runway without monitoring the radio.From Ops Manual:TAXIING: All equipment shall be towed on the far east side of the field to the staging area; keeping as far to the east as possible; east of the pylons if possible. Do not drive cars on the runway when it is wet or soft; even when towing sailplanes. Move them by hand; or don't fly. And remember; THE WEST SIDE OF THE FIELD MUST BE KEPT OPEN AT ALL TIMES FOR LANDING TRAFFIC! ON THE FIELD: One of the most important safety considerations is that THE WEST SIDE OF THE FIELD MUST BE KEPT OPEN AT ALL TIMES FOR LANDING TRAFFIC. Additionally; it is necessary to keep cars; kids; dogs; and friends away from the operations area. Don't taxi the tow planes or sailplanes in close quarters; get out and push. And make sure your wing runner is watching for traffic from both directions. After safely landing;I went to the north end of the field and confronted the instructor about completely blocking the runway. He fully admitted his mistake and apologized on the field as well in a subsequent email. I believe that this was an important learning experience for all involved.
Glider pilot reported a critical ground conflict while landing with another glider on the runway. The errant crew was able to clear the glider from the runway before any collision.