Fatal Swiss glider crash

[clearfinalsno1]

Did anyone else see the horrific picture in today's Daily Mirror of a glider missing a wing about to crash? This was always the nightmare in the back of my mind when I went gliding. With the wings being attached/detached each day I worried they might come off one day. That's not to prejudge the cause of this accident of course. I suppose the only chance you have in a situation like this is bailing out - presuming you're wearing a parachute.

My sympathies to the pilot's family and friends.

Story without picture (picture shown in print version) (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=17121562%26method=full%26siteid=94762-name_page.html)

[Genghis the Engineer]

Mine also.

Today's daily telegraph showed the photograph alone, with a one-line description. I felt a piece of journalism in very bad taste.

G

[Formally Known As]

I wonder why the poor person in that glider did not have access to a parachute.

[LondonJ]

There was a similar incident (in Japan I believe) where a light multi high wing tore off both its wings during an airshow and spectators witnessed about 10secs of the aircraft falling through the sky before impact.

[Rocket2]

"I wonder why the poor person in that glider did not have access to a parachute"
Im shall pick up that copy of the Telegraph with some trepidation, the pilot probably did have a parachute but the onset of "g" would have been very rapid & make egress nigh on impossible. The sight of seeing two very good friends about to die when their wings slowly came off following a mid air many years ago still haunts me.

[soaringdave]

does anybody know where this photo can be seen,done a few net searches but no luck??

[Footless Halls]

If you see the photo, fair enough. Personally, as a pilot, I would not go out of my way to find it as I would not WANT to see this photograph.

[Paris Dakar]

Footless Halls,

Ditto.

soaringdave,

'Genghis the Engineer' mentions the name of the newspaper that ran the story + picture, I'm sure that they [newspaper] will help you track it down

[foxmoth]

Telegraph report also said that the wing came off on the approach to land, whilst I take comments such as this in a newspaper with a pinch of salt it would explain why the pilot did not manage to get out with the 'chute - but it does seem a strange point to lose the wing.

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!]

Not really. If speedbrakes were depolyed they would change the load characteristics of the wing.

[soaringdave]

anybody even know what type of glider it was?

[Lancair]

anybody even know what type of glider it was?Schempp Hirth Ventus cT
Newspaper: http://www.20min.ch/news/bern/story/22626195
TV coverage:http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/pages/inc/GetMedById.cfm?MedId=100164034

[chrisN]

The following information has been posted elsewhere on the web [insertions/amendments by me]:

'According to an unofficial report, the pilot passed the finish line [presumably of a competition] with his Ventus CT with high speed. The flaps seemed to be in a positive position. Then, the flaps slipped immediately in a negative position. This created a big up and down movement of the wings and the right wing broke away. The picture shows the glider 2 seconds before the impact on ground, 50 m away from the spectators. No failure of the glider's structure was detected up to now. [I have deleted here an opinion as to cause. CN] The pilot (69) had over 2000 hours on gliders and he participated several times in regional or national contests.'

The picture referred to has been said to show the glider vertical from the ground at about 80ft with only one wing attached to the fuselage.

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the above, though I am sure it was posted in good faith by those concerned.

Chris N.

[soaringdave]

thanks lancair ,scary stuff ,i was expecting maybe an old wooden glider ,this is a very new modern glider to be breaking up.

[ronbvr]

Couple of points here and I'm surprised there aren't other gliders around to make them.
Not all gliders are disassembled and reassembled every time they fly. However, if you ever get the chance, have a look at the wing structure and the actual assembly to the fuselage. The wing roots themselves are relatively massive items and are securely pinned or locked together. On most modern (grp) gliders, the roots are passed through the main fuselage. No sensible glider pilot would launch without having another pilot independantly check the wing and tail assembly and control connections subsequent to rigging his, or her, glider.
From what I saw of the photograph, the wing had sheared in line with the fuselage side. Not what would seem to be a rigging problem, more a massive failure of the wing itself. There had been reports 'on the grapevine' of flutter having been observed prior to the collapse. Better to wait for the local AIB report rather than too much conjecture, though.
Parachutes - "the expensive seat-cushion". The glider was at relatively low altitude (2 - 300 feet max) when the incident occurred. It has been known for a pilot to successfully parachute from 1500 - 1800 feet. He acknowledges that he was lucky to get away with it from that height.
I would guess that the glider would flip fairly rapidly. So, firstly, the chute would not have time to deploy. Secondly, the pilot would, in all probability, not be able to exit the cockpit under these circumstances.
We dislike ANY sort of gliding accident, but especially those where a fatality occurs. Obviously, an occurrence such as this makes us all just that bit more zealous in our checks and observance of handling techniques.
Happy flying - come and try the real thing sometime 8¬). Your local club will be happy to see you.
Regards

[ProfChrisReed]

I suspect most glider pilots are awaiting the accident investigation report, rather than speculating.

On the wider issue of structural strength, it's worth noting that most gliders are far stronger (for their size) than either GA or commercial aircraft. The 1967 design glass fibre Open Cirrus was tested by the German LBA which failed to break the wings at 15g positive (I notice the weight every time I assemble mine!). More recent glass fibre gliders are less over-built, but still have g-limits well above normal GA aircraft - I checked out one current model and find limits of +7.2g/-3.6g. This is not a special aerobatic glider, just a normal "U" class type.

As a regular reader of accident reports (hoping to learn how to avoid them), my impression is that I have only seen two causes of structural failure:

1. Failure of airframe components as a result of poor storage (wood), corrosion (metal) or poor repair.

2. Failure of wing/tailplane caused by (usually unintentional) flight outside the design envelope.

From the limited information, this looks like (2). If a glider is flying at or near VNE, and the flap setting changes suddenly or airbrakes come open, the resulting change in loads might be sufficient to damage the airframe. The same would be true of any aircraft. However, we won't know until we read the accident report.

Anyone flying in a glider for the first time will never be flying that close to the edge of the envelope, nor indeed until they are an experienced pilot and decide to push to the limits (or forget their training and allow the aircraft to do this on its own, e.g. in a spiral dive).

I take people on introductory gliding lessons, and we typically fly at 1/3 VNE and do no unusual attitude flying. The primary risks, like all flying, are midairs and botched landings. Our training aims to avoid both.