Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Aircraft practicing soft field grass landing, stalled 10 feet above ground, landed hard and flipped over.
WACO Aircraft Corporation
Date: 02-SEP-22
Time: 18:50:00Z
Regis#: N21GL
Aircraft Make: WACO
Aircraft Model: 2T-1A-2
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: MINOR
Flight Crew: 1 Minor Injuries
Pax: 1 Minor Injuries
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: INSTRUCTION
Flight Phase: MANEUVERING (MNV)
Operation: 91
City: COLDWATER
State: MICHIGAN
BRANCH COUNTY, Michigan — The pilot and passenger of a Waco 2T-1A-2 aircraft escaped serious injury Friday afternoon, crashing on landing at the Branch County Memorial Airport.
Pilot Jerry Kemp was from Waco Aircraft Corporation in Battle Creek, owner of the aircraft. In the open-air cockpit with him, student John Watts. Both went to ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital for evaluation after the aircraft flipped over and came to rest upside down.
According to airport manager Joe Best, both men were hanging by shoulder harnesses with their heads just above the ground. LifeCare checked out both men. "I think they suspected one had a mild concussion. I didn't see any lacerations. Both men were walking around after the crash," Best said.
Best notified the National Transportation Safety Board, and a representative was due at the airport over the weekend to determine the cause of the crash.
The Waco 2T-1A-2 came in from the west on runway 7-25, the long main runway. "But they were landing on the grass off to the side of the asphalt runway. It looks like the gear dug in and flipped them over," Best said. Because of the runway height, the plane was not visible from U.S. 12.
Best, a pilot himself, said small rear-wheeled planes, called "tail draggers," often use the mowed strip on the side for landings and takeoffs, as they would on grass fields.
Best said manufacturing company uses the Branch County airport for test flights, demonstrations, and training away from the busier Battle Creek location of the manufacturing plant. The particular plane is the company flight trainer.
Waco hand builds two models of biplanes based on pre-World War II designs with modern safety updates and comfort features.
When the crash was reported at 2:46 p.m., Coldwater and Bronson Fire units responded along with Branch County Sheriff's deputies.
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