Illinois Man Fatally Injured In Glider Accident | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-12.08.25

AirborneNextGen-
12.09.25

Airborne-Unlimited-12.10.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-12.11.25

AirborneUnlimited-12.12.25

AFE 2025 LIVE MOSAIC Town Hall (Archived): www.airborne-live.net

Thu, Aug 11, 2016

Illinois Man Fatally Injured In Glider Accident

Aircraft Went Down In A Field Shortly After Release From Tow Plane

A 69-year-old resident of Tinley Park, IL southwest of Chicago was fatally injured Saturday when the glider he was piloting went down in a field in Minooka, IL.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the pilot, James M. Patton, was a former assistant fire chief in Tinley Park. He was flying with the Chicago Glider Club in Minooka last weekend.

Witnesses said that they saw one of wings of the glider "dip" shortly after it was released from the tow plane. The glider then stalled and "nose dived" into the field.

Patton's wife said that he had been a licensed pilot for at least 25 years, and began flying gliders about 10 years ago. In the past, he had flown with his granddaughter to AirVenture, where the two camped out under the wing of his Cessna.

No other details of the accident. The initial accident report from the FAA indicates that the aircraft was a PLZ Bielsko SZD55 glider of "pending" registration. It is classified as an "Experimental" aircraft in the "Racing" category.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (12.09.25)

“We respectfully call on the City of Mesa to: 1. Withdraw the landing fee proposal immediately 2. Engage with the aviation community before making decisions that impact safet>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.09.25): High Speed Taxiway

High Speed Taxiway A long radius taxiway designed and provided with lighting or marking to define the path of aircraft, traveling at high speed (up to 60 knots), from the runway ce>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (12.09.25)

Aero Linx: International Federation of Airworthiness (IFA) IFA uniquely combines together all those with responsibility for policies, principles and practices concerned with the co>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Diamond Aircraft Ind Inc DA20C1 (A1); Robinson Helicopter R44

Controller’s Expectation That VW02 Would Have Departed Sooner Led To An Inadequate Scan And Loss Of Situational Awareness Analysis: A Robinson R-44 helicopter N744AF, VW02 (V>[...]

ANN FAQ: Q&A 101

A Few Questions AND Answers To Help You Get MORE Out of ANN! 1) I forgot my password. How do I find it? 1) Easy... click here and give us your e-mail address--we'll send it to you >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC