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.

Data collected from Open Glider Network (OGN) as of Tuesday December 30, 2025

Duration	Gliders	Flights	Hours
Year to Date	3716	53225	58509.33
Last 7 Days	77	226	141

This table shows the number of individual gliders that recorded a flight in the OGN tracking system and the number of flights/hours those gliders flew.

Flight Training
Videos , CFI Webinars , 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	Aero Tow	L-23
Incident Activity	Damage to Aircraft	Damage to Canopy	Incident Date	Incident Time	Weather	SSA Member
Flight	None		2021-11-21	1400-1600	Clear	Yes
Incident Description	During a momentary unload at 3000’ AGL, the front seat ballast came out of the seat bucket, partially restricting stick back (up elevator) movement. By unfastening his seat belt, the front seat pilot was able to successfully move the ballast seat back into position. Of note, during preflight and also during inspection after the flight, the seat ballast position appeared normal, with front pawls confirmed to be properly engaged in the holes. HOWEVER, during the post-flight we found the rear ballast seat stirrups were NOT inserted correctly, but instead resting on top of the retention hooks. We now strongly suspect this improper installation condition existed before takeoff and allowed the ballast seat to shift backwards in flight enough for the front pawls to become disengaged.
Other Comments	From this point forward we will require all Club members to confirm both the front AND back latches of the L-23 ballast seat, if installed, are correctly engaged. This is of particular importance for winch ops, where a low altitude bunt may be required following a rope break.