What happened
On May 21, 2011, a Centrair 101A glider, registration F-CHUD, was performing a local flight at the Mantes Chérence aerodrome using a winch launch method. During the takeoff roll from runway 30, the pilot observed that the aircraft was failing to gain sufficient altitude. After notifying the winch operator of low pulling power, the operator increased the winch tension. Although the aircraft reached a speed of 80 knots, the airspeed subsequently began to decrease. At an altitude of approximately 90 meters, the pilot released the winch cable.
Upon releasing the cable, the pilot deployed the airbrakes and attempted to land. The aircraft touched down beyond the runway threshold in an adjacent field. During the landing roll, the left wing struck the ground, causing the glider to enter a ground loop. The impact resulted in the tail boom striking the ground and breaking. The aircraft continued to slide before coming to a complete stop. The incident resulted in heavy damage to the glider.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the performance of the winch launch and the mechanical state of the equipment. The winch operator reported that the tension applied during this launch was consistent with a previous successful launch of the same aircraft type. The operator noted that after increasing the tension, the glider leveled off into a horizontal attitude, and the tension indicator showed a significant drop in cable tension, coinciding with the visible deployment of the cable parachute.
Meteorological conditions at the time were characterized by a weak anticyclonic system with light, variable winds below 10 knots. The pilot had 198 total flight hours, including 124 hours on this specific type, and was performing his fifth winch launch of the year. The winch operator was conducting his third launch of the day.