- Date
- May 24, 1983, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lansing, MI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N20ZZSchleicher ASW-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830524021029A
- Case key
- 12184
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt was participating in the national 15 meter championship meet. During a triangular course, he ran out of thermal activity & selected a field for a landing. From the air, he thought he had selected an alfalfa field with a 5 to 6 inch growth. However, he stated that the field actually had grass aprx 24 to 30 inches tall. During the landing, one wing caught the grass, the glider swerved, then the tail cone failed from overload forces from the side.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20ZZ
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-20
- Category
- Glider
- Airframe hours
- 200
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John Wastvedt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 17, 1983 · 200 hours before
- Departed
- Y70 · Ionia, MI
- Destination
- Y70 · Ionia, MI
- Airport
- runway 11, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 60
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,175 total · 80 in this make and model · 4,100 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.