Schweizer SGS 2-33A accident near Sterling, Massachusetts, April 19, 2003
On April 19, 2003 at about 8:30 pm local time, a Schweizer SGS 2-33A (glider), registered N1241S, was substantially damaged in an accident near Sterling, Massachusetts (Sterling Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The student pilot's misjudgment of his traffic pattern altitudes, which resulted in a premature descent into a tree.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 19, 2003 · about 8:30 pm local time
- Place
- Sterling, Massachusetts · Sterling Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Schweizer SGS 2-33A · all SGS 2-33As on the register
- Registration
- N1241S · no longer on the register · serial 223
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
After practicing maneuvers at 5,000 feet, the student pilot returned to the airport. He entered the downwind leg at an altitude about 850 feet above the ground. He continued to descend, using airbrakes, until he realized he was too low, about 250 feet above the ground. He then tried to "cut the corners" of the traffic pattern in an attempt to make it to the runway; however, the glider's right wing impacted a tree.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 27 hours in all; 12 in this make and model; 1 in the last 90 days; 1 in the last 30 days; 18 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: None
- Seat: frt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine:; 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 3B3 Sterling MA at 8:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 16, 3,086 ft by 40 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 4,100 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 57°F (14°C), dew point 27°F (-3°C)
- Altimeter: 30.39 inHg
- Observation at 8:52 pm from FIT, 7 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.