What happened
On June 13, 2011, a Schleicher ASK21 glider, registration F-COMP, was performing a local flight from the Compiende aerodrome. The pilot, who was based at the airfield, departed from runway 23, which is an unpaved surface. After approximately 40 minutes of flight, the pilot observed increasing cloud cover and decided to terminate the flight early. The pilot entered a right-hand downwind pattern for runway 23.
During the landing sequence, the aircraft struck the runway with significant force and bounced before coming to a stop on the runway. The impact resulted in damage to the nose landing gear and the fuselage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the landing technique and the sequence of the touchdown. The pilot stated that the flare maneuver was performed too late. Eyewitnesses corroborated this, noting that the main and nose landing gears appeared to touch the runway simultaneously and that they did not observe a distinct flare phase during the approach.
The pilot reported that he was the only aircraft in the circuit and that the wind was aligned with the runway at less than 10 knots. He maintained that he remained in sight of the aerodrome throughout the flight and was not distracted by the changing weather conditions. Additionally, the pilot reported no significant fatigue. At the time of the accident, the pilot had held a glider license since October 2010 and had accumulated approximately 58 total flight hours, 56 of which were on the Schleicher ASK21.