Soaring Safety Foundation

The Soaring Safety Foundation (SSF) is the Training and Safety arm of the Soaring Society of America (SSA). Our mission is to provide instructors and pilots with the tools needed to teach/learn both the stick & rudder skills and the Aeronautical Decision Making skills needed to safely fly a glider. We also provide information and analysis of incident and accident trends in order to develop better training tools.

Flight Training
Videos and Scenario Database

These videos are introductory in nature and are geared to learning to soar, or a new soaring skill.

Flight Safety
Videos and Incident Database

These videos are safety oriented and appropriate for glider pilots of any skill level.

Visit the Soaring Safety Foundation's Youtube Channel
The SSA's YouTube Video Playlist

The Soaring Incident Database is now available to help pilots, safety officers, clubs, and commercial operators develop new programs that can help prevent incidents from becoming major accidents. See more incidents by searching the database or register a new incident.

Region	Pilot Certificate	Pilot Injuries	Passenger Injuries	Type of Flight	Launch Method	Type of Aircraft
East	CFI	None	None	Instructional		Grob 103 Twin II
Incident Activity	Damage to Aircraft	Damage to Canopy	Incident Date	Incident Time	Weather	SSA Member
GroundHandling	None		2014-08-23	1000-1200	Not a Factor	Yes
Incident Description	A little after 10 AM a group of students had gotten the Grob 103 out of the hanger, installed the battery, and completed the preflight inspection. The glider was now ready to move up to the flight line for the days flying. This involves moving the glider onto the taxi-way and towing it with a car uphill to the launch point. This day one of the members had parked his jeep close to the taxiway and the crew decided to move the glider by hand around this obstacle. The decision was made to lower the left wing and this would allow the right wing tip to clear the car. While moving the glider in this manner a loud 'twang' sound was heard and it was finally realized that the right wingtip and struck the radio antenna, leaving a small mark on the bottom surface of the wing.
Other Comments	Maneuvering the glider around, instead of over, the car or moving the car would have prevented this incident from occurring.