- Date
- August 14, 1994, 14:45 local (18:45 UTC)
- Place
- Ionia, MI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6514MSchleicher ASW-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940814027419A
- Case key
- 9639
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
no thermal lift available, and the lack of suitable terrain for landing. A factor related to the accident was the high wind condition.
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 pilot was participating in a soaring contest. He released from the tow airplane at 1900 feet AGL, seven miles northwest of the airport. He reported he immediately encountered high wind conditions and a sink rate. He attempted to make it back to the airport. He made an intentional landing in some bushy trees and scrub brush one mile north of the airport.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 1994, about 1445 eastern daylight time, a Schleicher ASW-20, N6514M, sustained substantial damage when the pilot made an off-airport landing north of the Ionia County Airport, Ionia, Michigan. The private pilot was not injured. The personal flight originated at Ionia at 1400. No flight plan was filed, and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
The pilot was competing in a glider soaring contest which was being held at the Ionia Airport. He stated the wind was from the west at 20-24 knots with gusts to 35 knots. The pilot released from the tow airplane about 1430, seven miles northwest of the airport. He said the glider had a sink rate of 400-600 feet-per- minute after release, and the wind was too strong to make a safe turn into it. He intentionally landed into the tops of some low bushy trees and scrub brush.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6514M
- Reported as
- Schleicher ASW-20
- Category
- Glider
- Serial number
- 20801
- Engine
- unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert H. Wilson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 16, 1994 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- Y70
- Destination
- MOP · Mount Pleasant, MI
- Airport
- Y70 · Ionia County Airport
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
- 72
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 5,390 total · 561 in this make and model · 5,300 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 16 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GRR, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.