What happened
On August 11, 2018, a Ka 6 CR glider departed from the Braunschweig-Wolfsburg airfield for a training flight via winch launch. The flight was being conducted by a 15-year-old student pilot, who was performing his first flight in this specific aircraft model. Shortly after the release from the winch at an altitude of approximately 478 meters, the pilot radioed that the controls were jammed.
Witnesses observed the aircraft entering a steep bank and a rapid descent, with sink rates reaching up to 26.7 m/s. An instructor observing the flight instructed the student to perform an emergency egress using the rescue parachute. The student jettisoned the canopy and exited the aircraft at an altitude of roughly 100 to 120 meters. However, the aircraft continued to pitch up before plunging into a cemetery, where it was destroyed upon impact. The student fell onto a nearby training ground; the rescue parachute failed to deploy, and the pilot sustained fatal injuries.
The investigation
The BFU examined the wreckage and flight data from a FLARM collision warning system. The investigation focused on the mechanical state of the control surfaces and the rigging process of the aircraft. Investigators found that while the aircraft had been flown successfully three times earlier that morning, the connection for the left aileron had become disconnected during the fourth flight.
Physical evidence showed that the control rod for the left aileron had become dislodered from its connection point and subsequently became wedged within the fuselage structure, causing the control jam. The investigation also looked into the student's training records, noting that while he was experienced in other glider types, this was his first flight in the Ka 6 CR.