Ionia County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ionia, Michigan 48846
Thursday, July 12, 2001 18:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The glider sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain. The pilot reported no injuries. The pilot stated, "Upon touch down the aircraft bounced, I closed the spoilers to save the landing, this caused an increase in speed, burning up available landing area. In forcing the aircraft to the ground, I caught the right wing-tip in tall grass causing the aircraft to ground loop. No injury to pilot was involved." The pilot stated that there was no mechanical malfunction or failure.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot not maintaining clearance from the tall grass during his recovery from the bounced landing. A factor was the tall grass.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/12/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Ionia
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48846
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport IONIA COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID Y70
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 813
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1755 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 140
Weather Observation Facility ID LAN
Elevation of weather observation facility 861
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KLAN 122055Z 34009KT 10SM SCT070 25/09 A3002= KLA
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12488
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 12 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1911
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Grand Rapids, MI, FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N140BG
NTSB Number CHI01LA207
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Burkhart Grob
Aircraft Model G 103 Twin II
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 33902-K-140
Certified Max Gross Weight 1280
Aircraft Category Glider
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 10 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 72
Airframe Hours 3345.1
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Benz Aviation LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3148 S. State Road
Aircraft Owner City Ionia
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 48846
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code Y70
Departure City Ionia
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1550
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2002 7:58AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length 1500
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --