Incident
On 7 May 2016 at 16:15 local time, a glider pilot conducted a training thermal flight in a SZD-30 Pirat at Piotrków Trybunalski airport (EPPT). The winch launch was performed with a side wind from the glider takeoff area on runway 03. After a normal launch, the pilot released the winch cable at approximately 350 meters and began searching for thermals east of the airport. Losing altitude to 200 meters, he crossed the runway 03 line and circled west of the field. At about 80 meters, he decided to return to the takeoff area. Crossing the landing line at 50 meters, he executed a steep turn with the wind, resulting in significant altitude loss. The glider was leveled at approximately 30 meters. After the turn, the pilot made rudder corrections, lined up for landing, and landed safely with an overshoot. The flight lasted 8 minutes. During the approach, the pilot did not announce his planned maneuvers and crossed the runway axis without explicit approval from the flight director.
Cause
The investigation determined the cause of the incident was failure to comply with rules for airport flights, specifically: 1) searching for thermals at critical altitude; 2) too late decision to land and lack of reporting planned maneuvers; 3) improper landing approach consisting of dangerous maneuvers at too low altitude, which led to a safety hazard.
Contributing Factors
Contributing factors included a strong crosswind from 70–80° at up to 10 m/s, the pilot's low glider experience (approximately 31 hours total glider time, with 14 hours solo), a winter break in glider flying (this was one of the first flights), and piloting habits from extensive ultralight aircraft experience (over 500 hours), such as losing altitude through maneuvers rather than using air brakes and flying "by memory."
Preventive Actions
The glider user took preventive actions: the pilot was instructed and asked to analyze the situation and write his own conclusions. He received theoretical refresher training on glider circuit patterns, S-turns, and procedures for special situations during landing approach. Check flights with the head of training were recommended before allowing the pilot to fly solo again; the pilot subsequently completed three flights with an instructor.