Incident Summary
On July 11, 2010, at EPBC airfield, a student pilot was conducting a winch launch training flight in an SZD-51 Junior glider as part of glider pilot license training. The launch was set on runway direction 10. Weather conditions were reported as very good, with wind from 100°–120° at 1–2 m/s and temperatures not exceeding 27°C until 9:30.
Sequence of Events
The student pilot had previously completed a check flight with an instructor in an SZD-9bis Bocian without any remarks. After pre-flight instruction, she took the seat in the Junior and the launch began. Initially, the flight proceeded normally: the glider lifted off after a short ground roll and transitioned into a gentle climb. However, upon reaching 30–40 meters, the glider did not transition to a steep climb but instead flattened its flight path.
The winch operator, observing the flat trajectory, slightly increased tension. When this produced no effect, he fully released the tension. This caused the winch cable to slacken, deploying its parachute and braking. The glider then overtook the cable, causing it to entangle over the left wing near the wing root.
The instructor in charge of flights issued the command to release the cable. The student pilot released it. With the cable caught on the left wing, the glider entered an irregular descent with a pitching motion and deviated left of the runway centerline. A steep approach without flare led to a hard landing on the main wheel, a bounce, and a second touchdown accompanied by a 180° left turn. After stopping, the winch cable was wrapped around the left wingtip. Inspection revealed a melted cable mark on the laminate near the wing-fuselage junction and cracks in the fuselage.
The student pilot had been in continuous training, having completed 40 flights from the beginning of the year, including 4 hours 32 minutes of dual instruction and 55 minutes solo. She was qualified to fly the Puchacz (the type used in initial training the previous year) and the Bocian.
According to the student pilot's assessment, during the launch she did not transition to a steep climb because she noticed the airspeed on tension had dropped to 80 km/h, to which she responded by moving the stick forward and reducing the flight path angle.
Investigation Findings
The investigation identified three probable causes for the accident: 1) an excessively flat first phase of climb, which caused the winch operator to cut tension; 2) delayed cable release by the student pilot after tension ceased, leading to the cable becoming entangled on the wing; 3) a landing without flare at a high rate of descent.
The commission noted that it could not be ruled out that the flat climb angle was caused by insufficient tension during the initial launch phase, resulting in the speed reduction mentioned by the student pilot. The commission reminded that during winch launches, tension speed should be selected to ensure the pilot can safely transition to a steep climb with adequate speed margin.
No safety recommendations were issued.