DG-300 stalls low in the turn to final off a winch launch

The pilot of a DG-300 was fatally injured when the glider stalled in the turn to final after a winch launch at a competition near Malsch; aircraft destroyed. Circling for thermals, the pilot reached the base leg already low — about 160 m against a usual 200 m — with roughly 3 m/s of sink. In the right turn to final the airspeed fell from about 80 to 62 km/h with the gear still up, lowered only after rolling out. The glider then turned left, dropped its right wing, stalled, and hit forest steeply. The pilot had flown about 30 hours in two years, and none in the previous eleven months.

1. Winch launch and circuit: The DG-300 launched by winch for a local competition flight, then flew a right-hand circuit while searching unsuccessfully for thermals, reaching only about 320 m at release.
2. Low and slow on downwind: On downwind abeam threshold 07 the glider was already unusually low and slow, at about 160 m height with a sink rate around 3 m/s, below the locally customary height of about 200 m.
3. Speed decay in base turn: In the right turn from base to final, with the gear still retracted, groundspeed decreased from about 80 to 62 km/h, nearing the calculated stall speed of about 67 km/h.
4. Gear extension after rollout: After rolling out onto final the pilot extended the landing gear, further increasing drag while already at a low airspeed and low height.
5. Wing drop and stall: Shortly after gear extension the glider entered a left turn, then rolled abruptly right and departed controlled flight — a stall with incipient spin from rearward CG.
6. Limited recent flying practice: BFU noted ~30 h flown in the last 24 months and no logged flying in the 11 months before the accident; fellow pilots described him as struggling in non-routine situations.
7. Steep impact in forest — fatal: Around 12:11 the glider impacted a nearby wooded area in a steep nose-down attitude and was destroyed; the pilot was severely injured and died two days later in hospital.