Glider crash in Wetzlar, Germany.
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Glider crash in Wetzlar, Germany.
On Sunday May 28th at 14:20 a glider crashed on the roof of a house in Wetzlar, ( 100 km E of Bonn ) killing the 57 year-old pilot, but with no injuries to any other persons. First investigations indicate that flying conditions were very difficult on that day.
The ASN page for the accident has a link to an ADS-B screenshot showing an attempt to get back to the airfield from downwind.
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Was glider flying that day not that far . , and there were 20-25 Kts winds from the East, ( still like today) so mandating the use of that runway which I guess is not the prefered one since it overflies the village.
Looking at the ADS-B , I would not take the last read out as doubtful , 108 Kts with is a 50Kts variation with the previous returns., the glider was FLARM / LX equipped so I am sure the BFU will be able to easily find the SD card to dowload the exact parameters.
if real it could be a bird collision, there are a lot of falcons and milans hunting at the moment , but that said, rarely above villages and cities..
Another option could be stalling and mishandling the recovery, , but he had good speed ( 50tkts s G/S with 20 Kts headwind) and altitude , as the runway is only 750 ft AMSL. Maybe a medical issue but doubtbul.. Anyway full of media attention here, a glider falling in the streets and injuring people , not good for the glider community..
Looking at the ADS-B , I would not take the last read out as doubtful , 108 Kts with is a 50Kts variation with the previous returns., the glider was FLARM / LX equipped so I am sure the BFU will be able to easily find the SD card to dowload the exact parameters.
if real it could be a bird collision, there are a lot of falcons and milans hunting at the moment , but that said, rarely above villages and cities..
Another option could be stalling and mishandling the recovery, , but he had good speed ( 50tkts s G/S with 20 Kts headwind) and altitude , as the runway is only 750 ft AMSL. Maybe a medical issue but doubtbul.. Anyway full of media attention here, a glider falling in the streets and injuring people , not good for the glider community..
Last edited by ATC Watcher; 31st May 2023 at 09:39. Reason: typos
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Losing 70 ft/s on altitude looks a lot to me for a glider. The 126 Kts speed might be matching with that. Indeed, a medical issue could certainly be a reason. The destruction of the glider could match the 126 Kts ground speed and the roughly 4000 ft/s vertical speed.
