cedfire,
Yeah - that was about my thought too. Gliders land "off field" ALL the time - You get on the phone/radio, and call in. Geez What was the PIC thinking?

Shudder

I took 2-3 glider lessons, oh, 17 years back - they drill you for off field landings all the time - lets face, if you are doing anything more than flying right in the area of the airport, you hit the sinks, you ARE landing off field - it's all a matter of WHERE and HOW

BTW this is one of the reasons that glider pilots are allowed to do MAJOR work on the aircraft - like take the wings on and off - you probably WILL have to do it sooner or later