A silver L-13 Blanik glider crashed in the parking lot of Middlefield Farm & Garden on Route 608 in Middlefield Township on Sunday. Injured in the crash were pilot David Nuss, 52, of Cortland, and his student passenger, Victoria Ponti, 13, of Eastlake. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
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Glider crashes in Middlefield, two injured
Monday, November 02, 2009
By Josh Echt and Glen Miller
The Chardon post of the Ohio State
Highway Patrol responded to a glider crash at the intersection of Route
608 and Georgia Road in Middlefield Township Sunday afternoon.
The crash injured pilot Dave Nuss, 52, of Cortland, and his student, Victoria Ponti, 13, of Eastlake, according to an OHP.
The
glider—a silver L-13 Blanik—and a Bellanca towplane took off from
nearby Geauga County Airport shortly before 4 p.m. when a vibration was
felt between both aircraft at approximately 150 and 200 feet of
altitude, OHP Sgt. George Biskup said in a news release.
The
towplane released the tow line so the glider could return to the
airport and land. The glider lost control as it turned eastward on its
return leg to the airport, he said.
It then lost altitude,
striking a utility pole before crashing into the parking lot of
Middlefield Farm & Garden on Georgia Road at 3:57 p.m. The business
was not open at the time and nobody was injured on the ground,
according to the news release.
As of Monday morning, Sgt. Biskup—the patrolman on scene at the time of the crash—could not be reached for comment.
Nuss
initially was transported from the scene to University Hospitals Geauga
Medical Center, but then was taken by medical helicopter to MetroHealth
Medical Center in Cleveland. He was in good condition as of Monday
morning, according to MetroHealth spokeswoman Julie Short.
Ponti
was transported to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s
Hospital in Cleveland. She is in stable condition as of Monday morning,
according to UH spokesman Vic Gideon.
Geauga County Airport Office Manager Patty Fulop, who lives about a mile from the airport, described the scene Sunday afternoon.
“I have a girlfriend who has a scanner,” Fulop said. “She called and said, ‘You probably have to run out to the airport.’
“The
address they gave (over the scanner) was Marathon Oil, which
immediately sent up a red flag because it’s a gas station at the end of
the runway and it’s not a good thing,” she added. “When I got out here,
I saw it was in the front parking lot of (Middlefield Farm and Garden).
Marathon Oil is across the street.”
The weather wasn’t particularly windy or cold, she said.
“It was probably cloudy because it was overcast yesterday,” Fulop said. “It was fine.”
Damage
estimates to the glider are unknown as of now. The Federal Aviation
Administration was scheduled to inspect the glider Monday, Fulop added.
“You
can see the damage. One wing is bent up and it will have to be
replaced. They had to open up the glider a bit to take them (Nuss and
Ponti) out,” she said.
Cleveland Soaring Society Treasurer Marty
Dunlap said the glider cannot be moved until the FAA investigation is
completed. The FAA also told airport mechanic Don Cunningham to look at
the towplane as well.
The glider is owned by the Cleveland
Soaring Society, a private glider club that has existed locally since
1962. Over the years, it has been based at various airports in
Ashtabula, Medina, Trumbull and Geauga counties, Nuss said in an August
interview with the Geauga County Maple Leaf.
Fulop said the
airport has not had a problem with any of the club’s four gliders and
one towplane owned by the club, of which Nuss is the president. Nuss
also has been the chief instructor for many years.
Geauga County Airport also is the base for seven additional gliders privately owned by club members, according to Dunlap.
The most important concern was the safety of the pilot and student, he added.
“They
were both conscious at the scene and didn’t have life-threatening
injuries,” Dunlap said. “The craft is totaled, but that’s why it’s
insured. That’s a secondary concern. The main thing is that nobody was
seriously hurt.”
All of the club members were contacted about
the incident Sunday and Monday via the club’s e-mail distribution list.
Nuss’s wife was contacted immediately, while Ponti’s father did not
need to be contacted because he was on-scene.
“She and her father fly together all the time, so he was there in an instant,” Dunlap added.
