Accident Overview
On May 29, 2012, at about 1535 eastern daylight time, a Schleicher ASW-27, registered as N127PC, struck the ground while maneuvering near the final approach for runway 27 at Ionia County Airport (Y70) in Ionia, Michigan. The glider was operated by a certificated private pilot as a personal flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, during a Soaring Society of America (SSA) Region 6 North Super Regional glider competition. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which had departed Y70 around 1413.
Witness Account
A witness observed the glider returning from the east at a very slow speed while winds gusted to 28 knots. As the glider approached the airport, it appeared to side-step and align for a straight-in approach to runway 27. At approximately 200 feet above ground level, instead of deploying spoilers, the glider entered a 90-degree turn to the south, as if attempting to climb in a thermal over runway 18/36. The wind pushed the glider strongly. It then turned left, as if to join a left downwind leg. During this turn, the left wing dropped, followed by the nose descending almost vertically toward a northerly heading, at an altitude about three times the height of nearby trees. The witness reported that the pilot seemed to try to recover, as one wing stopped dropping and the nose rose slightly, but the glider subsequently entered trees at approximately a 60-degree angle.
Wreckage Examination
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the wreckage and confirmed flight control continuity from the cockpit to the rudder and elevator. Both wings were separated from the fuselage. No mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation were identified. Three electronic devices were removed from the wreckage and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board Vehicle Recorder Division for data recovery.
Flight Data
The Y70 automated weather observing system reported the following conditions: at 1513, wind from 270 degrees at 18 knots gusting to 24 knots; at 1533, wind from 290 degrees at 21 knots gusting to 26 knots; at 1553, wind from 260 degrees at 20 knots gusting to 27 knots. Subsequent observations recorded increasing gusts. Data retrieved from the glider's recorder showed that during the last 6.5 minutes of flight, there were periods of circling with highly variable ground speed but relatively constant true airspeed around 100 kilometers per hour (km/hr). At 1535:06, recorded values were approximately: true airspeed 96 km/hr, ground speed 53 km/hr, and track 234 degrees. The recording ended at 1535:14. According to the ASW-27 Flight Manual, the airspeed indicator's white arc extended to 92.5 km/hr and the green arc to 100 km/hr.
Medical and Toxicological Information
A postmortem examination conducted by the Ionia County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death as blunt force injuries. The FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute performed forensic toxicology on specimens from the pilot, and the results were negative for all substances tested.