airbrake not guarded
I have over 2,500 hours in gliders and the cause of this accident is obvious. The airbrakes were not locked and they opened during the takeoff roll. The pilot's left hand was guarding the tow release and not the airbrake handle so the pilot was completely unaware that the airbrakes had opened.
The hand should never be on the tow release during takeoff. Near is ok but, in my opinion, far better to guard the airbrakes.
What happened to "brakes closed and locked - ready for hook up"?
Why did he release? It was still flying and under control.
Andy
Last edited by EXDAC; 9th Oct 2017 at 12:16.
Reason: typo fix