Cadet safe after emergency landing in glider

An Air Force Academy cadet is safe after the glider he was flying Monday evening made an emergency landing in a field east of Powers Boulevard near Old Ranch Road.

The cadet lost lift, according to Academy spokesoman First Lt. Meredith Kirchoff, and simply brought his glider down about four miles east of the airfield.

"Cadets are taught to be constantly looking for a place to land in an emergency," Kirchoff said. "He did exactly as he was trained."

The cadet, who was not immediately identified, is a junior and member of the Academy's cross country glider team. He was alone in the glider at the time of the emergency landing.

"Basically, he just ran out of thermals; ran out of lift," Kirchoff said. "He determined he couldn't get back to the Academy. So he looked for a safe place to land.

"The main thing is, he's uninjured. And no structures on the ground were damaged."

She said the status of the glider was not immediately known.

The emergency landing occurred about 5 p.m. and a team of cadets immedately went to his rescue.

The cadet described the landing as "just like landing on our airfield," Kirchoff said.

"The main thing," she said, "is that he was safe."