Originally Posted by
chevvron
When the Blanik was first suggested, it was totally ruled out because it was built in what was then an Iron Curtain country (can't have 'communist' machines in RAF markings can we) so Slingsbys came up with the UK equivalent in the T53 and we all know what a disaster that was.
There has since been a spar failure in flight (2010) which lead to fatalities, and Blaniks were grounded while it was investigated. I believe eventually a scheme to remedy the problem was devised, but it cost more to implement than the gliders were worth so very few now fly.