Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Richmond Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gregory, Michigan 48137
Saturday, May 10, 2008 15:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The glider pilot reported that before hooking-up to the tow plane he reviewed the preflight checklist and verified that the flight controls were connected and unobstructed. The initial takeoff roll was normal with the glider becoming airborne prior to the tow plane. The glider pilot applied forward stick pressure to remain in ground effect and in proper position relative to the tow plane, which was still accelerating on its takeoff roll. After the tow plane became airborne the glider began to climb above proper tow position. The glider pilot stated that he "could not push the stick all the way forward to lower the nose" and the glider continued to climb out of tow position. The glider pilot released from the towline when he no longer had the tow plane in sight. After releasing from the towline, the glider resumed a level pitch attitude and began to decelerate. The pilot selected full nose down trim, in response to his limited pitch control. The glider continued to decelerate and subsequently landed hard on the turf runway. The main landing gear and aft fuselage tubular support structure was substantially damaged during the hard landing. Both wingtips were damaged and there were several fabric tears on the left wing and fuselage. After exiting the glider, the pilot found his handheld communication radio on the cockpit floor. The pilot said that during takeoff the radio must have fallen off his seat onto the cockpit floor, restricting the movement of the control stick. The pilot reported that the accident might have been prevented if the glider had a method to secure a handheld radio and the preflight checklists included a task to identify if there were any unrestrained items in the cockpit area.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to adequately secure his handheld radio prior to takeoff, which resulted in a restriction of the flight control stick and loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the stall/mush flight condition encountered after the glider released from the towline.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/10/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gregory |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48137 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422630N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0840359W |
| Event Location Airport | Richmond Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 69G |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 921 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 25 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OZW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 962 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| 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) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23744 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 11 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration - Detriot FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24BS |
| NTSB Number | CHI08CA136 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schleicher |
| Aircraft Model | AS-K13 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 13003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1060 |
| Aircraft Category | Glider |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 0 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sandhill Soaring Club, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 2021 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ann Arbor |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48106 |
| 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 | 69G |
| Departure City | Gregory |
| 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 | 69G |
| Destination City | Gregory |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2008 5:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2471 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |