A00-031-7173
	SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY ACCIDENT REPORT – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Date of Accident	19 March 2000		Time of Accident				1144 Z
Aircraft Registration	ZS-GGL		Type of Aircraft				Olympia EON 465
Pilot-in-command Licence Type			Glider Pilot’s Licence				Glider Certificate Valid			Yes
Pilot-in-command Flying Experience			Total Flying Hours		124.7		Total Hours on Type			15.65
Type of Operation			Private
Last point of departure			Runway 36 Bloemfontein Gliding Club
Next point of intended landing			Runway 36 Bloemfontein Gliding Club
Location of the accident site with reference to easily defined geographical points (plus GPS readings if possible)
60 m East of Center line of runway 36 and approximately 200m from the threshold of runway 36.
Meteorological Information		CAVOK
Number of people on board		1		No. of people injured		Nil		No. of people killed			1
Synopsis
On 12 March 2000, gliding activities were cancelled when the selection mechanism of the winch, which selects either the left or right spool was found to be inoperative. Following the repair of the winch selection mechanism, gliding activities resumed on 19 March 2000. The winch was positioned at the upwind threshold of runway 36 due to the prevailing Northerly wind. The winch consists of two engine driven spools, one of which can be selected at a time. Both winch cables are then pulled from the stationary winch to the other end of the runway by another vehicle. Two gliders can then be launched in succession before the cables have to be pulled back to the take-off point, ready for the next launch. The first launch commenced at 1057 Z and the right-hand spool (as seen from the position of the winch driver) was used. The second launch was done on the left-hand spool. During the early stages of the launch, the selection lever on the winch became dislodged from it’s selected position causing no power to be transmitted to the left-hand spool. This occurred shortly after take off and at a height of approximately 200 to 300 ft AGL. In this case the pilot (who was fatally injured during the fourth launch) decided not to land straight ahead and flew a tight right-hand circuit at low altitude and landed on runway 27. Due to the fact that the winch failure occurred at such low altitude, the pilot was reprimanded by the Chief Flying Instructor for his decision to execute a low-level circuit instead of landing straight ahead on the remaining runway. The third launch was executed using the right-hand spool, again with no event. The left-hand spool was again used for the fourth launch for the same aircraft and pilot that had previously experienced the winch failure. During this launch the selection lever again disengaged at approximately 200 to 300 ft AGL. According to various eye-witness accounts, the cable was released after which the air brakes were seen to deploy. The aircraft then turned to the right with the bank angle continuing to increase and the aircraft entered a spin to the right and attained a near vertical nose down attitude. The aircraft rotated through one and three quarter turns before impacting the ground at a very steep nose down angle with the air brakes still deployed. The pilot was fatally injured during the collision.
Probable Cause
Following a winch failure at low altitude the pilot allowed the airspeed to decay to such an extent that the aircraft stalled and entered a right-hand spin from which he was unable to recover due to insufficient height available.