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 Monday April 20, 2026

Duration	Gliders	Flights	Hours
Year to Date	904	8502	6656.36
Last 7 Days	322	1055	975

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	Private	None	None	Local	Aero Tow	Grob Twin Astir
Incident Activity	Damage to Aircraft	Damage to Canopy	Incident Date	Incident Time	Weather	SSA Member
Flight	None		2016-08-07	1200-1400	Clear	Yes
Incident Description	During TWO attempted launches of the Grob Twin Astir (TA), the Tost ring at the glider end released after the tow plane applied tension. After the first attempt, the front-seated pilot admitted that he might have accidentally pulled the release since his hand was near the release knob. So we tried it again...SAME RESULT...even with the pilot’s hand well away from the knob. We stopped the operation and investigated the problem. We found the AFT release knob and had somehow become lodged UNDER the aft fabric seat cushion which extends forward to the instrument panel. The knob was completely hidden from view. How it got there remains a mystery.
Other Comments	Apparently, the Tost release was partially opened, just enough to cause a release behind the tug even after a good pull test by the line crew. This was the third flight of the day for TA so I doubt the problem was a result of a previous maintenance action. It is speculated that the knob was pushed under the seat cushion when the aft-seated pilot got into the cockpit. A better cockpit check by the aft-seated pilot may have prevented this incident.