Glider makes ‘off-field landing’ in Braidwood

A glider aircraft landed safely in a field near Marathon Gas Station, 1190 West Kennedy Road, last Wednesday, Aug. 5, according to reports by the Braidwood Fire Protection District and Will County Sheriff’s Office.
The 1984 German built single seat Ventus Glider, which has a wingspan of approximately 50 feet and is about 20 feet in length, landed without injuries to the pilot in the field on the far west side of town after the plane lost the thermal, according to Kathy Hoffmeyer, public affairs spokesperson for the Will County Sheriff’s Office.
Though the landing wasn’t planned in advanced, this type of landing is common for gliders.
Gliders have no engine and therefore no thrust to propel them forward. They slowly descend relative to their starting point, but can also use thermals — pockets of rising warm air — to help them gain altitude, such as in the case of the pilot last Wednesday.
Will County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene around 4:30 p.m. and spoke with a man who said while he was at Jones-Eez Bar-B-Que, he and a coworker observed the glider to be flying low, just above the treeline. The men thought the glider was going to land and followed the plane in a car for six blocks in order to check on the pilot.
One of the men said he spoke to the pilot, who told him he was on his way to Minooka when he lost thermal current and decided it was too risky to continue to fly.
The pilot then returned to the scene with his vehicle and trailer for the plane. He spoke with deputies who ensured them it was a common practice for gliders to make “off-field landings” during that type of weather in order to avoid accidents.
The Will County Sheriff’s deputies confirmed this with the Federal Aviation Administration which said it would get in contact with the pilot.