Glider Collision with Trees During Emergency Field Landing

Incident Overview and Aircraft Details On September 8, 2012, at approximately 16:00 local time, a glider operated by a club was involved in an accident near Itxassou, France. The aircraft was a Schleicher ASK 21 with the registration F-CBDR. The incident occurred in a field measuring 300 by 50 meters, located 500 meters south of the threshold of runway 26 at the Itxassou aerodrome, which sits at an altitude of 180 meters. The glider sustained significant damage as a result of the collision. ## Circumstances of the Accident The student pilot had taken off from Itxassou aerodrome under tow for his second local solo flight as part of his glider pilot training. He released the tow line on the western slope of Pic d'Artzamendi at an altitude of 850 meters, approximately 5 kilometers south of the aerodrome. Assessing that the thermal updrafts were insufficient, the pilot decided to move to the opposite slope. He then realized he was downwind of the terrain and was losing altitude rapidly. The pilot decided to return to Itxassou aerodrome and informed his instructor via radio. The instructor suggested he head directly to the base stage for runway 26. The student pilot realized he would not be able to reach the runway and communicated this to his instructor. He then decided to land in a field below the aerodrome. During the final approach, he avoided a power line but struck trees on the southern edge of the field with the left wing. The glider pivoted, hit the ground hard, and came to rest flat. ## Pilot and Instructor Background The student pilot had completed his first solo flight in early August 2012 and had not flown in dual command since. The instructor had indicated a known field that the pilot failed to identify, leading him to land in a field he had not had time to assess. The pilot noted that during his training, he had not visualized fields suitable for emergency landings. The pilot had begun his training two years prior and had changed instructors in the summer, starting his solo flights at that time. The instructor believed the student did not understand or hear the radio instructions for locating the known field. The pilot had a total of 24 flight hours, all on type, since the start of his training in 2010. The instructor had 2,400 flight hours since 1997, including approximately 1,800 hours as pilot-in-command, and had been a glider instructor since 2003. ## Weather Conditions The weather conditions at the time were: wind from 280 degrees at 5 knots, CAVOK (Ceiling And Visibility OK), temperature 29 degrees Celsius, dew point 16 degrees Celsius, and QNH 1017 hPa.