Incident Report
Monday 9/1/2025 (Labor Day)
by Sandra Acres

Copied from the SBSA Telegram General Chat
Posted by Sandra Acres on Wednesday Morning 9/10/2025
with a few insignificant minor edits

Cascade leading to autorotation ending with an SAR

Castle Ridge, Santa Barbara

I’m a P4 pilot with over 400 hours of flight at many different sites over the world, mostly North America and Europe.  I got my P2 two years ago.  3/4 of my flights are XC.  Very current.

I was flying my new Artik 7P (3-liner C) (with a Genie Xlite pod) under which I already flew 20 hours ridge soaring (practicing many different maneuvers) and almost 10 hours mountain flying.  Although I have 3 SIVs under my belt, none of them were performed with my new C wing.

I’m a local pilot in Santa Barbara.

My quick take away:

1.  Being on a new wing, I should have been further from terrain at all times.  I felt very confident on it, even though I never experienced a stall under it.

2.  I need to be more aware of tricky areas.  Castle Ridge did not raise red flags for me at the time, I actually experienced it as pure fun that day.  Now that I experienced a couple of whacks there and talked to many local pilots, it seems so obvious that I should have been more cautious around Castle.  It is very humbling…

3.  Having a set altitude at which to throw my reserve when losing control of my wing is something I will verbalize to myself routinely on each and every flight in different environments.

Now here is the description of the event:

The day had smooth South wind all along the mountains (facing south), which I find very easy to fly in, but the strong sun and high heat rendered the air more punchy than usual in Santa Barbara.  I found my flight from EJ to Romero very fluid though, but once at Castle I encountered my first roller coaster experience.

I got a big whack, that made my heart skip a beat.  Flying in the Alps this summer got me quite accustomed to these ups and downs, so I continued flying the same way.  I think that’s my first mistake.  Knowing that the air was more tricky than usual, I should have decided to fly further away from the terrain.  In the Alps we get much higher than terrain very quickly.  In Santa Barbara, there is much more scratching going on.  Once you know the air is not reliable, a cautious pilot would keep further away from the terrain.  I did not….  Also, the terrain makes Castle Ridge more complicated than I realized.  There is a smaller ridge and other features at the foot of the ridge itself, that add unruly air to the incoming southern wind and the top of the Santa Barbara range is lower the vicinity of Castle Ridge, funneling the north wind right there.

My last figure 8 was at 200 feet AGL over the last spine of Castle Ridge, at an altitude of 3150 feet MSL.  That’s when my cascade happened.  I took a huge whack that took me too long to catch.  Then I started spinning.  So much energy!!!  I think I pulled the breaks unconsciously (I remember catching myself), most certainly my second mistake.  The wing at that point was in front of me, in an autorotation configuration.  The energy was too great for me to recover fast enough.  I thought I was far away from the terrain, but three autorotations later, I was facing the cliff.  I must have drifted much closer to terrain than I realized.  I was so disoriented, it all happened in a flash (in actuality 10 or so seconds, plenty of time to throw one should say).  I did not hit the ground straight on.  A bush caught me while I was starting to turn away from the ground.  I fell on my harness, my water bladder exploded.  I hit the ground at 2800 feet MSL.

My major mistake is that I did not throw.  Did not even think about it.  I was focused on rectifying my wing.  I should have prepared myself, telling myself that I’m in instant reserve throw territory since I was so low.

When I realized where I landed, I was hanging upside-down, with the precipice right behind me.  I made a radio call letting people know that I just had fallen out of the sky. (Big thank you to my husband James, Chris Garcia and Tom Truax for jumping on the rescue coordination. Amazing leadership spirit!)

I thought I was ok then.  I thought I just had to find my way out of this tricky terrain somehow.
I pulled myself up, unclipped, got out of my gear to find a stable position upside-up.  I was on loose rocks though, so I did not feel safe, thinking that I could cause a land slide at any moment.  I found some painkillers in my flight deck, gathered my phone and Garmin inReach that were still attached to my pod and found enough strength to stand on a somewhat stable spot.

I called my husband, James, for help and pushed my Garmin SOS button, since there was no way for me to climb my way out of the cliff.  Something I never thought I’d do…  During that effort I realized I was not ok.  My back was hurting more and more, my legs felt so weak, the sun was beating me up, I had no water left after the osprey bladder exploded.

My fourth questionable action comes next:

The direct sun on those cliffs makes sitting on the rocks while waiting for help excruciatingly painful.  Also, I could not be sitting the whole time, my back was becoming too painful as the adrenaline wore off.  So I felt I had no choice but find a place where I could lay down leaning against the rocky cliff, waiting for SAR to come get me.  Since my legs felt so weak on very unstable ground, I grabbed branches and rocks to drag myself (on my butt) about 10 feet away, to find shelter under a bush.  That could have costed me more than it did.  With a burst fracture of my L2 vertebra, my spine could have suffered more damage with added effort.  Something to think about when assessing the risks of moving.  I did think about it, but opted for more stable grounds.  Once under the bush, I placed my back as flat as possible against the cliff, holding on to branches to stabilize myself.

It took about 30 minutes for the helicopter to get to me.  I think; even though I communicated my coordinates, my wing was blending too much with the environment.  I had to give directions to the pilot over the phone, which was very difficult at that moment with the pain, my unstable position behind a bush and my fears taking over my mind.  But in retrospect, it tickles me to no end that I got to remote control a rescue helicopter!  Jokes aside, it is amazing to be able to count on people like SAR to come get you when you screw up that bad!  Wow!

In the end I have a few scratches, and a fractured vertebra.  That means a brace for two months and a great deal of pain.  But I am so very lucky!

My first reaction when I called for help was to apologize for my stupidity and that I should not fly anymore.  That I’m not mentally fit for it.  But a few days later, I can’t imagine not flying again.  My mind goes from incredibly grateful to immensely mortified.  I could not understand why I did not throw my reserve.  I’ll have to find a way to shift that load somehow and find balance again.  That will probably take longer than healing my physical wounds.

But I have to say that I am part of an amazing community here in Santa Barbara.  I am surrounded by so much love, care and wisdom.  It makes me tear up just thinking about it!  That speeds up the process tremendously for sure!

I’m looking forward to your constructive comments.  Part of this exercise is to gain clarity.  I am very thankful for this chat!

Chris Garcia Comment
intended to address recent local incidents resulting in SAR helicopter "rescues" including:

• Saturday 9/13/2025 Incident
  Pine Mountain non-emergency helicopter "Uber" extraction of a new-ish pilot who "landed out"
   
• Monday 9/1/2025 (Labor Day) Incident
  Local injury "crash" along Castle Ridge

Posted to the SBSA Telegram General Chat on Sunday, 9/14/2025
with a couple of minor insignificant edits.

We are off to rough start this season.  When we land on sensitive areas, or have to call SAR on a continual basis and we end up on John Palminteri’s social page, it’s not a good look for us as a community.  I’m really glad that all the recent events have come out positively for the most part.

Radios / Fly with one, know how it works, keep your chatter to a minimum and allow for pertinent information to come through.  Communicate thoughtfully and clearly.
http://www.scpa.info/committee/radio/protocol.htm

Offline maps / We all fly with a phone and have Google Maps.  Take the time to download offline maps there or get Gaia and download those maps so you have trails and you can even download satellite view so you can find a clearing if you’re in dense brush.

Garmin inRreach / Get one, know how to use it and share your link with friends.  It’s a safety device that every pilot should have and fly with.

Study Up / Flying a new site or trying a new route requires planning.  Understand the consequences of not making the LZ, or what going OTB can mean.  Get solid mentorship when going to a new site.  If you’re not comfortable landing out then sticking to the “fish bowl” or taking sled ride to get familiar with the launch and landing is a good idea.

Self-rescue /  If you are uninjured you need to be prepared to self rescue. Trekking poles, water, food, radio, garmin, off line maps. Plenty of pilots have landed deep and gotten out. But if you’re that pilot who has a bad leg/foot or one who doesn’t quite have the situational awareness built up yet maybe stick closer to home and slowly dip your toe in the water.

Fundamentals /  Keep up on the kiting, spot landings, terrain clearance, etc. and all the basic stuff you learned from the get go.

The list can go on and on and I’m sure some keyboard warrior would love to keeping adding to it.

Point is that it’s your responsibility as the pilot on command to be as prepared as possible for the day of flying.

Have fun out there, but keep it together…

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