Flight History
The pilot of the tug aircraft had conducted six glider aero-tows to 2,500 ft without incident earlier that day. Despite some turbulence, he adapted to the conditions. During the seventh tow, rain was encountered at 2,000 ft. Difficulty seeing through the rain-affected windscreen led him to decide to land as soon as possible. He signalled the glider pilot to release from the cable, which was accomplished successfully. The tug pilot had previously been landing across the field along with the gliders, but on this occasion chose to land long on the grass runway.
Accident Sequence
As the pilot turned onto the final approach, the combination of a low sun and the rain-affected windscreen restricted his vision. The approach was made with the aircraft crabbed to compensate for a crosswind from the left. However, the aircraft failed to maintain the centreline and drifted to the right. It then stalled from a height of about 5 ft and fell firmly onto rough ground to the right of the prepared strip.
Damage and Aftermath
The landing gear shock struts failed as a result of the heavy landing. The pilot shut down the engine as quickly as possible and exited the aircraft. There were no injuries to the pilot. The damage was limited to the landing gear shock struts.
Pilot's Assessment
The pilot noted that although he had successfully landed into the sun many times before, on this occasion the low sun combined with the wet windscreen had affected his vision more than he had expected, contributing to the event.