COLUMBUS, OH, USA
N101AZ
Start & Flug H-101 SALTO
THE GLIDER WAS ON APPROACH FOR LANDING ON THE GRASS RUNWAY 22. THE PILOT EXTENDED HIS BASE LEG DURING THE APPROACH TO ACCOMMODATE A POWERED AIRPLANE, WHICH HAD ENTERED THE PATTERN. HE THEN DECIDED THAT IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO COMPLETE THE LANDING ON THE PLANNED GRASS RUNWAY, SO HE CHANGED THE LANDING SITE TO A GRASS AREA WITH WHICH HE WAS NOT FAMILIAR. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE GLIDER IMPACTED A DITCH DAMAGING THE TAIL SECTION. THE PILOT SAID THAT THIS WAS HIS FIRST FLIGHT AT THIS AIRPORT.
On Friday, June 18, 1993, at 1400 eastern daylight time, a Start Fuge, H 101 Salto, a glider, N101AZ, registered to and piloted by Walter Parrasch, sustained substantial damage during a landing at Bolton Field, Columbus, Ohio. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91. The pilot extended his landing pattern for a powered airplane. He then decided that he would be unable to land in the planned area, so he selected another grass area on which to land. During the landing roll the glider struck a ditch, and the tail section was torn off. The pilot said, "I landed safely and I was on my final rollout, when suddenly the drainage ditch appeared, which I did not know was there. This was my first landing at this airport and [I] did not realize there was a drainage ditch in my path." In a telephone interview conducted on September 9, 1993, the pilot stated that he had arrived at this airport for the first time on the morning of the accident. He said that glider flying was not usually conducted at this airport. He felt that they should have been using the paved runway rather than the grass. Mr. Richard D. Blazso, an Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, stated in his report, "Due to conflicting powered aircraft, the pilot extended his base leg, which made him elect to land on the grass strip next to the taxiway. Touchdown and landing were normal. Aircraft rolled approximately 150 yards and struck a small ditch..."
THE PILOT'S SELECTION OF UNSUITABLE TERRAIN FOR LANDING. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INTERRUPTION OF THE GLIDER PILOT'S PLANNED APPROACH BY A POWERED AIRPLANE.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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