What happened
On May 24, 2015, at approximately 19:47 local time, a student pilot was conducting a winch launch training flight at the Laszki airfield (EPJL) in Poland. The flight was part of a training session on a new aircraft type, intended to familiarize the student with the cockpit and flight characteristics of the SZD-30 Pirat.
During the third launch of the session, as the aircraft transitioned into a steep climb at an altitude of approximately 40 meters, the winch cable snapped. The student pilot reacted to the sudden loss of tension with a delay. As the glider continued to climb at a high angle of attack, it rapidly lost airspeed. An instructor monitoring the flight via radio provided urgent instructions to the student to push the control stick forward to maintain airspeed and avoid a stall.
Following the instructor's commands, the student maneuvered the aircraft into a glide, though the glider's heading had drifted significantly from the original takeoff path. The aircraft flew over trees at approximately 80 km/h toward a nearby pasture. As the student attempted to land, the left wing struck the ground at an altitude of about one meter. This impact caused the glider to rotate 90 degrees, leading to a subsequent impact where the right wing hit the ground. The force of the landing caused the fuselage to separate from the center section, while the tail and horizontal stabilizer broke away as the aircraft spun.
The investigation
The PKBWL examined the technical documentation of the SZD-30 Pirat, registration D-1801, and confirmed the aircraft was airworthy and properly documented. The investigation included an analysis of flight footage recorded by the student's son, which provided a frame-by-frame view of the accident sequence. The commission also reviewed weather forecasts and the terrain, noting that the landing area was a pasture with very soft and uneven ground due to recent activity by wild boar.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the delayed reaction of the student pilot to the loss of airspeed following the winch cable failure.
- A significant loss of directional control occurred while the pilot was attempting to manage the airspeed.
- The final landing resulted in a side-slip (traversing) landing because the wing caught the ground.
- The student pilot's limited flight experience acted as a contributing factor to the sequence of events.