I don't want to second guess the Melton Mowbray collision but I noticed this in the BBC report
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...shire-66544210:
David Leach, who lives on Marigold Crescent in the town, told the BBC:
"I came out and we just looked up watching them circle right above us and then, all of a sudden, there was a mighty bang. I think the end of the wing of one clipped the back end of one glider, chopping his tail end off and one of them just came crashing down like a rocket."
I remember in the late 70s or early 80s during a Lasham competition two thermalling gliders collided (they were unaware of each other). The wing of one, a PIK-20 I think, chopped off the tail off the other, a Kestrel 19.
The Kestrel, having lost the tailplane down force (and weight of tail), immediately went into a severe AND tumble that imposed a lot of negative g on the pilot. The canopy release on the Kestrel was rather fiddly to reach at best (it was changed as a result) and with the g forces, the pilot could not operate it. Eventually he was able to release his straps and was projected through the canopy, managed to deploy his parachute (but at very low level) and he survived.
The PIK-20 pilot decided the aircraft was controllable and flew back to Lasham and made a safe landing. On inspection the aircraft was badly damaged, especially the wing fittings. In fact you could move one wing tip fore and aft a lot and, whilst the other wing tip moved appropriately, the fuselage remained stationary.
One takeaway from this is; whilst the temptation is strong to stay with a damaged, but apparently controllable aircraft, you have to consider the likelihood of loosing control low down where a parachute jump would be fatal. It may be better to take the parachute option whilst you can.