Ann Arbor man injured in glider crash in Unadilla Township
An Ann Arbor man injured in a glider accident Sunday is recovering.
Courtesy Unadilla Township police
Stephen Wasilewski, 66, suffered injuries after witnesses reported seeing the glider clip some trees at the edge of the airfield, flip over and crash at 1:46 p.m.
Unadilla Township police officials said Wasilewski was airlifted to the U-M Hospital by Survival Flight with leg and head injuries.
A hospital spokesperson said Wasilewski is currently in fair condition at the hospital and expected to make a full recovery.
Pinckney Police, Stockbridge Area Emergency Services Authority and the Lenawee Community ambulance services assisted Unadilla Township fire and police units at the scene.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. Wasilewski’s aircraft is FAA registered.
Katrease Stafford covers the city of Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2548 or KatreaseStafford@annarbor.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @KatreaseS.
Comments
jcj
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 1:55 a.m.
A Sunday, June 14, 2009 incident was the fifth aircraft crash since 2006 at Richmond Field and the second of two fatal accidents, the radio station said. In June 2006, a 56-year old Novi man was killed his small airplane crashed and burned while making an emergency landing because of engine trouble.
salinemom2712
Fri, Aug 3, 2012 : 2:54 a.m.
From my memory, having lived in Pinckney at the tme, the 2006 crash was not related to the glider port, it was a crash landing by a random airplane. It wasn't even a day that the field was being used for gliding.
K32
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 2:24 a.m.
Gosh, time flies; I think it's the '09 crash I'm referring to as "a year or so ago." I believe it was a glider fatality. Five crashes since 2006 is NOT a good record.
K32
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 8:04 p.m.
Indeed there was a fatality at that airfield a year or so ago. I'm kinda curious what's going on there, since at the gliderport where I flew for over 15 years, there was never an incident that resulted in serious damage to a glider, an injury, or, god forbid, a fatality. Soaring is actually a pretty safe sport.
justcurious
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 12:12 a.m.
I agree. I wonder if there is a lack of screening in some way. I would assume that there is a licensed person operating the glider, but I'm not sure of that.
Major
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 7:37 p.m.
Flying of any type is still many mega times safer the driving, biking, motorcycling... Hope the guy is ok and can be up and flying again soon!
Major
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 12:59 p.m.
I've seen what, 10 maybe 20 automotive/motorcycle/bicycle related fatality stories here in the last year alone, zero air fatality stories....sorry, not buying it. Stats can be skewed any way you'd like...reality still remains.
Peregrine
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 12:53 a.m.
In my "So depending..." paragraph, I should have said that general aviation is 8.9 to 33.5 times more dangerous in terms of fatalities, depending on whether you compare by distance or time. Please look at the link to see how these numbers were derived.
Peregrine
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 10:02 p.m.
This is most definitely not true! Airline travel is safer than driving. But general aviation flying is significantly less safe than driving. From 2004 data, there were 13.1 fatalities per 100M miles flown but only 1.47 fatalities per 100M miles driven. Or perhaps you'd prefer to look at it in terms of time spend rather than distance traveled. In that case there were 19.7 fatalities per million hours flown in general aviation compared with 0.588 fatalities per million hours driving. So depending on how you compare, general aviation is around 21 to 33.5 more dangerous than driving (in 2004). You can look at the data and calculations at: http://www.meretrix.com/~harry/flying/notes/safetyvsdriving.html . And if you're a private pilot, I hope you don't deceive your potential passengers by telling them that general aviation flying is safer than driving. That would be inexcusable.
AySquared
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 7:29 p.m.
Those gliders don't look that safe.. Surely not something i'll ever do.
Harm
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 8:12 p.m.
That's perfectly ok....on the other hand, it's something I enjoyed, when I tried it. After some study and understanding of the factors involved.....
thecompound
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 11:51 p.m.
it looks like an oversized paper airplane
justcurious
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 6:11 p.m.
I believe this is the second fairly recent incident at this facility. If my memory serves me correctly there was a fatality a few years ago there.
JRW
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 5:25 p.m.
Sure hope this person has good health insurance that covers high risk hobbies, like gliding. The rest of us should not have to pick up the tab for these kinds of choices people make.
walker101
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 2:58 p.m.
Not a high risk hobby, flying gliders is not really considered that risky, I would rather fly a glider than ride a motorcycle or bike in Ann Arbor.
clownfish
Thu, Aug 2, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
MOTOR- "Obamacare" does not cover illegal aliens. Prior to the passage of the ACA, "dopers, alcoholics" and your other groups were still paid for by the rest of us. duh.
jcj
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 10:19 p.m.
JRW And the rest of us should not have to "pick up he tab" for people whose dogs get stranded on the ice or fall down a hole( on the news now). How mant dogs ya got JW?
cinnabar7071
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 8:30 p.m.
Brad thats entirely up to the gov't what they'll let you do. Scary isn't it?
motorcycleminer
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 8:20 p.m.
So maybe we don't need obamacare to cover illegials , dope and other substance abusers, alcoholics , homeless and all the other people that walk into emergency rooms that we pay the tab for ...duh....
Brad
Wed, Aug 1, 2012 : 6:27 p.m.
So which activities are you going to allow us? Which "choices" are you willing to cover for us?